North Korea is suffering from an extended period of drought, state media outlet the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday.

The drought, which the KCNA said last week is the “worst” since 2001, is leading to damage to crops that include wheat, barley and maize.

Although “sporadic” rainfalls took place last week, there has not been enough precipitation to “overcome the damage from drought,” KCNA said on Saturday.

The drought reports come as the UN’s World Food Programme announced last week that a lack of resources meant it had been forced to significantly reduce food aid to North Korea.

North Korean state media published reports about drought conditions afflicting the DPRK at roughly the same time over the past three years, in June 2013, May 2012, April 2011.

In 2012 the two Koreas suffered the worst drought according to contemporary records, meteorological offices in Pyongyang and Seoul both said.

Prior to 2011, the last report of drought afflicting North Korea took place in 2001, when a 100 day dry spell took place between March and July of the year.

Picture: Eric Lafforgue

North Korea is suffering from an extended period of drought, state media outlet the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday. The drought, which the KCNA said last week is the “worst” since 2001, is leading to damage to crops that include wheat, barley and maize. Although “sporadic” rainfalls took place last week, there