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North Korea could face a famine according to aid groups

North Koreans are dying because of food shortages in rural areas and a massive famine is just a matter of time, a South Korean aid group has said.

The food situation is as bad as the famine that hit the country in the mid-1990s, which left as many as two million people dead, Seoul-based Good Friends - a Buddhist-affiliated group that sends food and other aid to the North - cited an unidentified North Korean official as saying.

Good Friends also quoted Kim Ki-nam, 39, a resident of Sariwon, south of Pyongyang, as saying one or two deaths were happening every day in rural areas around the city.

North Korea has relied on foreign assistance to help feed its 23 million people since the mid-90s.

This year's food situation has worsened because last year's harvests were hampered by devastating floods.

The North also has refused to ask for help from South Korea after a new conservative government took office in February that has been critical of the Pyongyang regime.

The aid group urged North Korea to acknowledge the situation's seriousness and ask for international help to prevent massive famine. It also urged South Korea to soften its position on the North and offer aid without waiting for Pyongyang's request.

The US has offered to provide food and held talks this week in North Korea over how to guarantee aid gets to the needy. North Korea said the talks were "in-depth and good."

The World Food Programme warned last month the North faces a food crisis, saying the country's annual food deficit is expected to nearly double from 2007 to 1.83 million tons.

The UN agency estimated 6.5 million people were short of food, and the number could rise if shortages were not addressed.