North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister announces N. Korea will stop accepting food aid at the end of this year, both because its food production has increased adn because the US is politicizing the process by linking aid to human rights issues. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland asserts that 7% of North Korea’s population of 22.5 million are starving and 37% chronically malnourished. “According to U.N. statistics, 40 percent of North Korea’s children suffer from stunted growth, 20 percent are underweight for their age and 8 percent are wasted, meaning their weight is too low for their height. The average boy of 7 is 7 inches shorter and 20 pounds (9 kgs) lighter than the average 7-year-old in South Korea, the world body said.” (Yahoo! News)