Report claims NKorea on brink of serious food shortage

North Korea is facing a food shortage crisis due to this year's drought, according to a South Korean think tank Thursday.

The GSnJ Institute's North Korean agriculture expert, Kwon Tae-jin, predicted that the country could be short of food by a million tons next year -- more than double the average deficit since leader Kim Jong-un succeeded his father at the end of 2011.

In addition to the North's worst drought in a century, Kwon was cited by local news agency Yonhap as claiming that China has also been exporting fewer crops to its long-standing ally.

As of last month, North Korea's Chinese crop imports were reportedly down 30 percent on-year.

If true, the prediction confirms earlier fears about the reclusive state's fragile supply of nutrition for its people.

With the Kim dictatorship likely to come under pressure, ordinary citizens may feel that they have two options: turn to a reportedly growing black market or starve.

A third, even riskier option might be defection -- North Korean refugees often point to the widespread famine of the mid-1990s as the main factor behind their escape from a country that strictly limits border movement.

Kwon's gloomy forecast for 2016 comes after the United Nations appealed for $111 million in aid to support the seven out of 10 North Koreans already without secure access to food.

Offering such help to the North has been controversial due to Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, which have led to persistent infringements of U.N. resolutions.