A South Korean group that provides aid to North Korea says the impoverished country has stopped rice rationing in its capital.

The aid group Good Friends said in a newsletter that as the food situation worsens, food rationing has been suspended in Pyongyang for six months starting in April.

The group said rumors are spreading that the number of people who will starve to death will rise sharply beginning next month in the North.

It quoted high-ranking officials in the North as saying that food rationing has never been suspended for such a long time.

Good Friends added that rice planting has begun across the North, but difficulties have arisen due to a lack of fertilizer and resources.