The World Food Program says North Koreans are eating less than half the amount of food they should each day, and officials say the current international focus on Afghanistan is partially to blame.

A spokesman for the U.N. agency, Gerald Bourke, told reporters in Beijing that foreign governments have pledged only 25-percent of the 611,000 tons of food sought by the World Food Program for North Korea in 2002. At this point last year, he said, governments had pledged 50-percent of requested donations.

The WPF spokesman said South Korea and the United States are the only countries to promise aid so far this year for North Korea, adding that other past donors are focusing on the situation in Afghanistan.

Mr. Bourke said North Koreans are currently receiving about 300 grams of food a day, mostly grain with little protein or vegetables. He said that is less than half of the minimum 630 grams recommended by the U.N. agency. The World Food Program has been helping famine-stricken North Korea since 1995.

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

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