North Korea has admitted to the existence of starvation in areas south of Pyongyang, calling it a man-made problem, a Japanese newspaper reported today.

According to Mainichi Shimbun, citing a North Korean trader, in mid-March an internal document produced by the Chosun Workers’ Party leadership said the cause of the starvation was “excessive food quotas for the military.”

The document allegedly continued, “South Hwanghae Province has been in difficulties due to flooding, and the number of families suffering a lack of food has been growing, even among farming households. Farming households have been suffering to guarantee military rice.”