British Ambassador to North Korea Peter Hughes says the communist state did not suffer serious famine this year.

Hughes made the claim during a lecture at Chatham House in London on Monday that was attended by diplomats from Norway, Japan and the Netherlands.

A diplomatic source quoted Hughes as saying that though it’s true that the North’s food shortage situation has worsened every year as announced by the World Food Program, there is no serious famine in the North.

In particular, Hughes said there is no sign of famine in Pyongyang. He said that he had heard rumors that people in other cities, including Wonsan, are starving but later heard from a Russian that lives in Wonsan that the region has not witnessed signs of famine.

The North and Britain established diplomatic ties in December 2000. Hughes has been heading the British Embassy in Pyongyang since September 2008.