hankyoreh

North Korea is likely to face a shortfall of more than 400,000 metric tons of food this year due to recent heavy floods in spite of massive outside aid, a U.S.

government-funded radio station reported Tuesday.

Citing experts on North Korea, Voice of America (VOA) reported that the communist country might run a deficit of 400,000 tons of food even even if it receives aid from South Korea and the international community. Devastating floods are believed to have destroyed a revised 14 percent of the North's farmland, South Korean officials said.

South Korea, other countries and international agencies are extending a helping hand to the North.

The number of dead and missing is estimated to reach more than 300, with the homeless numbering about 300,000. An estimated 46,580 homes of 88,400 families were destroyed or damaged, according to the North's media.

Data from the U.N. World Food Program and South Korea's Unification Ministry show that the North will need between 5.24 million tons and 6.47 million tons of food this year.

Depending on the weather, the availability of fertilizer and other factors, the country may only be able to produce 4.3 million tons of food by itself in 2007, the report said. But heavy floods destroyed the North's ability to produce the estimated amount of food.

This year, South Korea is providing 400,000 tons of rice to the North, while it is planning to make yet another shipment of emergency aid to the North. SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap News)