UNICEF data on the DPRK

Complete data: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/korea.html

• About 20% of children under the age of two suffer from diarrhoeal diseases caused by contaminated water and poor hygiene practices.
  
• Approximately one third of mothers are malnourished and anaemic, a rate that has not improved since 2002.
  
• A lack of high-quality obstetric care contributes to a reported maternal mortality rate of 110 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Starvation Nation

By Michael Magan, Tuesday, March 31, 2009
In anticipation of a missile test, North Korean officials have already halted international food aid.

If North Korea’s official media is to be believed, the regime intends to test-fire a long-range missile sometime between April 4 and April 8. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has already escalated regional tensions by curtailing communications with South Korea and ratcheting up its bellicose rhetoric. Less noticed is how in the process, callous regime hardliners are once again putting their own people further at risk by taking steps to cut off international food aid. The North Korean people will continue to bear the burden of their government’s foolish posturing. ...

http://www.american.com/archive/2009/march-2009/starvation-nation