Millions of N. Koreans depend on external food aid: UN

SEOUL (AFP) - Millions of people remain dependent on external food aid in North Korea where nearly 28 per cent of children under five are stunted from malnutrition, a UN official has said.

Desiree Jongsma, UN resident coordinator in North Korea, said two thirds of its 24 million population were chronically food insecure although timely imports had contributed to avoiding a crisis this year.

"Although the overall humanitarian situation has improved slightly over the last 12 months, the structural causes of people's vulnerability persist", she said Friday.

According to a 2012 UN national nutrition survey, nearly 28 per cent of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition and four per cent are acutely malnourished.