WFP: More Funds Needed to Help 1.8 Million Hungry North Korean Children

The World Food Program says it cannot help more than 1.8 million malnourished children in North Korea because of an acute shortage of funds.

The U.N. agency said Thursday it is reaching only 25 percent of the 2.5 million undernourished children in the impoverished nation.

A recent U.N. report said North Korea is heading for a new food crisis at a time when it is recovering from drought and floods.

The WFP’s executive director, Josette Sheeran, who travels to the reclusive country this week, called the situation “deeply concerning.” She urged the international community to respond with more funds.

The United Nations Children’s Fund says 40,000 North Korean children under the age of five become “acutely malnourished” every year.