North Korea has cut daily food rations to 250 grams (8.8 ounce) per person, just half the minimum daily energy requirement, according to officials from the World Food Programme. Richard Ragan, the UN food agency’s country director for North Korea, said the cut from 300 grams per day appeared to be temporary and was not unprecedented in a country where fluctuations in public food distribution have been a regular occurrence. At this point, it is unclear on the duration of this change,» Ragan said in an email to Reuters yesterday. The reclusive communist state has suffered from persistent food shortages, although conditions appear to have improved since famine caused by drought and flooding in the mid- and late-1990s were believed to have led to the deaths of a million people. Gerald Bourke, the World Food Programme’s public affairs officer for Asia, said the cut was likely to be in effect at least until the middle of the year. “That it is this early in the year is of concern,” Bourke said. The minimum daily required cereal ration is approximately 500 grams. Despite its best harvest in 10 years, North Korea was again expected to experience food shortages in 2005 and to require external aid, the World Food Programme said in November.