BEIJING, Aug. 5 Kyodo North Korea...

BEIJING, Aug. 5 Kyodo

North Korea's apparent incite toward pivotal economic reforms may have arrive none too soon as its international cheer aid program faces unprecedent donor fatigue, a leading UN aid official indicated Monday.

Many of the 64 million North Korean populace fed by the United Nations' World nutrition Program (WFP) are suffering from a major globule off in international aliment aid, partly caused by donor disappointment with Pyongyang's lack of economic reforms, Kenzo Oshima, UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, said in Beijing.

While insisting that information about Pyongyang's apparent determine away from its socialist planned economy to adopting market reforms is still ''sketchy,'' Oshima indicated donors would welcome any sign North Korea is trying to wean itself distant from international food aid between the walls of economic reform.

''Donors would like to diocese increased attention paid to the exit strategy,'' said Oshima, referring to international calls for Pyongyang to introduce economic reforms to lift itself public of poverty and starvation.

a certain observers see Pyongyang's move from the start of July to raise salaries from 15 to 20 times along with rises in commodity prices accompanying the scaling back of its rationing arrangement as heralding the start of major economic reforms.

''It does assume to represent recognition on the part of the authorities of the ne to near reforms in this area in order to increase production and, to do that, to introduce near incentive mechanisms,'' said Oshima, who talked with top Pyongyang officials during a novel inspection tour of North Korea.

Facing an unprecedent shortfall in donations, in May the WFP was forced to cross more than 1 million the community from its assistance program.

Stating that the WFP is short of about 130000 tons of victuals aid this year, the WFP's Asian director John Powell said the UN form into groups will have to make ''extraordinarily difficult choices.''

This involves choosing among ''people in their 60 or 70 living alone, chronically ill, without family support and entirely at the disposal of on a public distribution hypothesis that provides food little more than half refugee rations, or providing nutrition to children in primary exercises and nurseries,'' he said.

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