The Associated Press ("U.N. MAN: HELP N. KOREA HUNGER," Beijing, 9/13/96) and Reuters ("NORTH KOREA IN DOWNWARD SPIRAL AFTER FLOODS," Beijing, 9/13/96) reported that Robert Hauser, former country director of the United Nations World Food Program in the DPRK, told a news conference in Beijing that malnourished children with protruding bellies and stick-like arms can now be seen in the DPRK, and almost all of the country's 22 million people are suffering from prolonged, severe hunger. "The country is definitely in a downward spiral," said Hauser, who finished his assignment this month. "If you go out into the countryside you see skinny people only." "This year they may just make it ... but next year the crisis will be worse," Hauser said, warning that erosion and deforestation have set the stage for further flooding and crop disasters. This year, about 373,000 tons of grain were lost due to flooding, equivalent to one-tenth of the year's output, Hauser said. Pyongyang could not increase the area under grain because only 20 percent of the DPRK is arable land, he said, adding that it also could not boost the yield due to shortages of fertilizers, pesticides, and organic material in the soil. The World Food Program, which is providing food aid in some parts of the country, has only received 60 percent of the US$25.9 million -- the equivalent of 70,550 tons of grain and blended foods -- it has been pledged. Hauser painted a gloomy picture ahead. "It is 22 million people who have less and less, and less and less to eat," he said.