UN report: Sanctions disrupt humanitarian aid to North Korea

Tokyo — International sanctions on North Korea are taking a serious toll on humanitarian aid activities, according to a United Nations-led report.

The report issued this week by the UN's senior resident official in Pyongyang said sanctions are inadvertently hindering legitimate operations on the ground and have indirectly contributed to a "radical decline" in donations it said are badly needed by millions of North Korean women and children.

It said "chronic food insecurity, early childhood malnutrition and nutrition insecurity" continue to be widespread in the North, which it noted ranked 98th out of 118 countries in the 2016 Global Hunger Index.

More than 10 million people - or about 41% of the North Korean population - are undernourished, it said.