The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, has warned that North Korea may “see starvation on a massive scale unless there's a massive relief effort in the weeks and months to come."
 
In an interview with CNN on Friday, Zeid, who attended an opening ceremony for a UN field office in Seoul earlier on Tuesday, called on the international community to support and help the North “in respect of what is going to be a very difficult famine.”
 
CNN also quoted John Aylieff, the Asia deputy regional director for the UN World Food Program, as saying that he witnessed power cuts to the hydroelectric power supply when he was last in Pyongyang and that his staff members have reported low reservoir and river levels.
 
He projected that it is unlikely a famine like the one that killed more than half a million people in the 1990s will take place. However, he did say that if the North does not see rain soon, the main rice harvest will suffer and that could lead to food shortages and malnutrition.