The U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea is describing the situation in the communist nation as "dire and desperate."

In a report presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, Vitit Muntarbhorn said ordinary people undergo “intolerable suffering” under the North’s oppressive regime.

Muntarbhorn said some eight-point-seven million people are currently in dire need of food assistance. But he said that as of January, only one-point-eight million people were receiving food aid because of severe resource shortfalls.

The U.N. official urged Pyongyang to revamp its political system to guarantee its people increased participation and to modernize its system by observing international standards on human rights.

In response, an official of North Korea's U.N. mission present at the council denounced Muntarbhorn's report, saying it was the result of the "hostile policy" of the United States toward his country and the European Union’s attempt to politicize human rights.