UN warns of N Korea aid disaster

Without urgent action aid workers say cases of severe malnutrition could soar once again

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The World Food Programme is urging donor nations to review aid pledges to North Korea, warning that without urgent action its food stores could run dry by the middle of the year.

The United Nations agency says it needs more than 350,000 tons of food now to make sure hungry North Koreans have enough to get through the summer and avoid a major humanitarian crisis.

Launching the program's appeal in Beijing Wednesday WFP Asia director John Powell said some progress had been made in easing the long-running famine in North Korea with fewer cases of severe malnutrition.

However, he said much of that work could be undone without pledges of new supplies.

"Without further contributions, we will run out of food in July or August," Powell said.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO CNN's Lisa Rose Weaver reports on the food shortage crisis in North Korea and relief agency efforts to help Play video

"Pledges today don't translate into food tomorrow ... It takes about 3 to 4 months to translate a pledge from a donor country into food in the stomach of a child in North Korea," he added.

The WFP estimates that around 40 percent of North Korean children under the age of 5 are vulnerable to disease because they don't get enough to eat.

Stalled industries

At the moment, it says, it is still too early to tell how much North Korea's own harvest will contribute to food stocks this year.

Roughly a third of North Koreans live in rural areas, and there are indications the food situation for them is slightly better.

But the stalled industrial base in North Korean cities -- where the majority of people live -- indicates there is little to fall back on.

Because of the closed nature of North Korean society no official records have been released to gauge the human impact of the famine, which has lasted several years.

Aid agencies estimate that between 100,000 to several million people have died as a result of the famine and related diseases.

The WFP admits its ability to monitor the success of food aid remains tightly controlled by the North Korean authorities.

Fending off disaster

Meanwhile aid donors have lobbied the WFP to demand dialogue with the North Korean government at higher levels to ensure food is going to the right places.

So far that hasn't happened.

The WFP says food supplies could run out by the middle of the year

On a positive note however the WFP says there are no indications that the recent tension between Washington and Pyongyang has jeopardized food aid.

The United States is the single largest source of food that the World Food Programme distributes in North Korea.

Despite its political doctrine of self-reliance, known as "Juche", aid agencies say North Korea relies almost entirely on overseas supplies to fend off what would otherwise be a nationwide food disaster.

-- CNN Beijing Correspondent Lisa Rose Weaver contributed to this report