The United Nations Children's Fund says that a third of North Korean women are undernourished.

In an interview with Radio Free Asia on Wednesday, the chief of UNICEF's Pyongyang office Gopalan Balagopal warned that the overall humanitarian situation in the communist state could be far worse next year.

On U.N. sanctions against North Korea's nuclear test, the official told the U.S. government-funded broadcaster that although no country officially announced a halt to UNICEF aid, talks on additional provisions are not going smoothly in many countries.