1.  Grave food shortages worsened by floods have put millions of North Koreans at risk of severe malnutrition.

2.  It was said that this was vital to keep food prices down, and avoid grave food shortages.

3.  A senior North Korean official, visiting Japan, acknowledged for the first time Friday that his country is facing a grave food shortage and asked Japan for help.

4.  Even before the floods, the country faced grave food shortages.

5.  In its first official admission of a grave food crisis, North Korea, whose ideology stresses self-reliance, asked Japan last month to provide emergency rice.

6.  North Korea is known to be already suffering from a grave food shortage.