The UN Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) has re-designated North Korea as one of 37 nations suffering from a food shortage in need of external assistance.
 
Quoting the FAO's third-quarter report on the global food situation, media outlets reported on Friday that North Korea's food shortage for this year is expected to reach 458-thousand tons and it should receive external aid and imports.
 
The shortfall decreased by 33 percent from 685-thousand tons of last year.
 
The FAO report said that North Korea's crop yields decreased due to severe droughts between April and June, and a shortage of water supplies for irrigation.
 
Of the 37 food-shortage nations, 29 are from Africa, and seven from Asia.