North Korea’s food crisis: How hungry are people in the hermit kingdom?

There are growing concerns among rights groups and aid agencies about North Korea’s chronic food shortages. Many experts who keep an eye on the reclusive state say the problem is growing and deaths due to starvation are likely to continue. Some see signs that the country is in the grip of its worst famine since the “Arduous March” blamed for up to 3 million deaths in the 1990s. Others, however, say conditions are not nearly as bad as they look, thanks to Chinese foreign aid propping up the…