U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed serious concern over the food shortage in North Korea.

In a report submitted to the U.N. General Assembly on Friday, Ban said over one third of the North’s nearly 24 million-strong population is in need of food assistance.

He said the North’s humanitarian problems, including food shortages, a crumbling health system and lack of access to safe drinking water, seriously hamper the fulfillment of human rights of the population.

Ban said that with 70 percent of the population dependent on the public distribution system, it is a matter of grave concern that government officials are reporting declining rations, with portions not even meeting one third of daily energy requirements.

Last December, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimated in a report that nearly nine million people could go hungry due to a shortage in cereals in the North this year.