Torben Due, the World Food Programme's country representative in North Korea, said Pyongyang had told the agency to scale back its operations in the impoverished country, without giving clear reasons.

"It is a very serious problem for the population in (North Korea) as they do not have enough to eat," Due told reporters.

He said the WFP, which launched an emergency operation in North Korea late last year amid a deteriorating food outlook, has had to pare back its goal of reaching 6.2 million of the hungry, and is now targeting just 2.27 million.

"For adults, it doesn't mean a lot if you live for a few months on a diet of cereals and vegetables, but for children, it is critical," he said.

"We see an increase in the number of children being admitted to hospitals with severe malnutrition," he added, while stressing that observation was based on anecdotal evidence and could not yet be quantified or verified.

Due said a study by the WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organisation last year estimated nearly nine million North Koreans -- more than a third of the country's 24 million people -- require food aid.

A long-running international standoff over North Korea's nuclear programmes escalated on May 25 when Pyongyang carried out its second nuclear test, followed by further missile launches, which resulted in new UN sanctions.

"We have not really received any contributions after the nuclear test was carried out," Due said.

As a result, the WFP has dramatically curtailed food distributions to 4,500 tonnes per month, down from a planned 50,000 tonnes per month.

Due would not speculate on the reasons for the donation drop-off, but added: "We are asking for the donor community to support our operations."

Since last month, WFP operations were cut back to only 57 counties in six provinces, compared to 131 counties in eight provinces previously, Due said.

He said new government restrictions on the agency's work included a ban on employment of Korean-speaking staff.

Authorities also now demand seven days' notice before the agency carries out any field monitoring meant to gauge the extent of the crisis and whether aid is getting to the needy. Previously, only 24 hours' notice was required.

The North suffered a severe famine in the 1990s which killed hundreds of thousands, blamed on poor weather but also the inefficient command economy.

It has since relied on overseas aid to feed millions of its people.

North Korean state media in May quoted the nation's leader Kim Jong-Il as calling for a "decisive turning-point" this year in ending food shortages.

But North Korea in March refused further food aid from the United States amid the nuclear standoff, and last year also failed to request customary deliveries from South Korea amid rancour with Seoul's new conservative leader.

Due said it appeared unlikely that WFP aid was being diverted to North Korea's powerful military, saying the agency had seen no evidence of that and the aid was largely bland cereal meant for children.

The chronic food shortages have created a vicious cycle in which malnourished children grow up stunted and with weak immune systems, and in turn give birth to less-than-healthy babies, Due said.

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