EDITORS NOTE: PICTURES TAKEN ON A GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED TOUR FOR REUTERS ALERTNET

Spoons and bowls are seen stacked after being washed in a kitchen for orphans in the area damaged by recent floods and typhoons in the North Hwanghae province September 29, 2011. In March, the World Food Programme (WFP) estimated that 6 million North Koreans needed food aid and a third of children were chronically malnourished or stunted. Rising global commodities prices, sanctions imposed for its nuclear and missile programmes, and its dysfunctional food distribution system had created a hunger crisis in the North, even before devastating summer floods and typhoons compounded the emergency. Picture taken September 29, 2011. To match Special Report KOREA-NORTH/FOOD REUTERS/Damir Sagolj (NORTH KOREA - Tags: SOCIETY POVERTY)