US envoy warns of N Korea famine

Seoul - Famine conditions in communist North Korea are worsening despite international food aid, a US congressman said yesterday…

Seoul - Famine conditions in communist North Korea are worsening despite international food aid, a US congressman said yesterday after a three-day visit to rural areas of the impoverished country.

A House of Representatives Democrat, Mr Tony Hall, told reporters: "I think when somebody writes the history of this country - and we don't have it now - when we really know what happened in North Korea, this will be one of the great disasters in the last 50 years. I think it's that severe."

Mr Hall returned from his sixth visit to North Korea on Tuesday.

--(Reuters)