North Korea has launched a desperate drive to import grain after its government reported that food shortages would worsen next year, a South Korean welfare group said Wednesday.

The North's agriculture ministry reported in early October after surveying state farms that next year's food deficit would be worse than this year's due to a poor harvest, said Good Friends, which works in the impoverished country.

The ruling communist party instructed all state trading firms — most of which are based in China — to import as much grain as possible, it said.

"The North's rice belt along the west coast was severely hit by a cold spell and a drought this year, causing a bad crop," Lee Seung-Yong, director of Good Friends, told AFP.

The corn crop was also hit. Farmers in North Hwanghae province in the northwest reported that this year's crop was only half that of last year, the group said.

The North suffered famine in the 1990s which killed hundreds of thousands. Since then it has relied on overseas aid to feed millions of its people.

South Korea's Institute for Far Eastern Studies said in a recent report that temperatures in the North dropped sharply in July and again from September 8-12.

It said the strange weather patterns, especially in northern areas, "have led to widespread rumours of food shortages by the end of the year and beyond."

The UN's World Food Programme said in a recent report the North would run short of almost 1.8 million tonnes of food this year and a third of its women and young children are already malnourished.

South Korean agronomist Kim Soon-Kwon has also predicted that the corn crop is expected to be less than 1.5 million tonnes, down from the annual average of 2.5 million.

Analysts differ on the extent of food shortages. Lee said thousands of North Koreans are expected to die of starvation or the effects of malnutrition this year and the country "may face a bleak situation next year."

South Korea Monday offered to ship about 10 000 tonnes of corn, in what would be the first official aid to its neighbour for almost two years.

Under previous liberal governments Seoul sent around 400 000 tonnes of rice and 300 000 tonnes of fertiliser a year to the North.

Shipments stopped after a conservative Seoul government took office and linked major aid to progress on nuclear disarmament, sparking a furious response from Pyongyang.

AFP

What is a rand freeze? What does it mean to 'freeze' a currency - and what are the consequences? Here's how it works.

Great or gloomy? Do you think Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's first Budget speech was great or gloomy?

SA firms top world's best Three South African companies have made their way onto a list of the world's top 40 firms.