The World Food Programme(WFP) forecast that humanitarian aid programs to North Korea may be forced to temporarily halt if the communist state continues border lockdowns this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a revision to its North Korea national strategic plan posted on its website Tuesday, the WFP said such activities could be suspended this year if deliveries of food aid continue to be turned down.

The international agency added that it will seek to maintain a balance between the dangers to continuing the activities with a limited number of personnel and the indispensability of supporting children and women facing the threat of malnourishment.

Since January 2020, Pyongyang has imposed lockdowns along its border to prevent the virus' entry, impeding deliveries of food aid and traveling by the agency's workers outside the capital city.