UN group again calls for food aid to North

The world Food Program repeated its calls Tuesday for food aid for North Korea. The UN agency said it needs 80,000 tons of grain immediately to avoid a new crisis.

At a press briefing in Geneva, Christiane Berthiaume, the World Food Program spokeswoman, said the agency has received pledges of only 35,000 tons of food for the first quarter of this year, less than one-third of the food it needs to keep starvation at bay. Unless new aid is provided, the agency said, it would have to cut back its programs for the second time since September.

The World Food Program said it had failed to attract its food aid quota for the North last year for the first time since it began working in the North in 1995. The agency has also recently issued urgent appeal for help in Africa, where it says drought and crop failures have put 38 million persons at risk of starvation.