As reported by a pro-Pyongyang newspaper earlier this week, North Korean scientists are celebrating the invention of a new super high-calorie noodle.

According to the Choson Shinbo, "When you consume ordinary noodles made from wheat or corn, you may soon feel your stomach empty. But this soybean noodle delays such a feeling of hunger."

Sounds good to me. After all, it's hard to discount the claims of a country ruled by an immortal leader, especially when they come from such official sounding government ministries as the 'Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers' Party.' Right.

Of course, the invention of this new type of ramen noodle couldn't come at a better time, especially since the United Nations (UN) warned last month that North Korean residents are experiencing their worst food shortages in more than a decade.

However, the notoriously reclusive communist country is extremely reluctant to allow foreigners to assess the scale of the problem, or to even allow the proper distribution of emergency food aid within its tightly controlled borders.

So, it looks like the humble ramen noodle might soon take up the front lines in the fight for the hearts and bellies of ordinary North Koreans. Over the next few months, the DPRK government will be mass-producing the noodle, and distributing it in bulk before the bitter winter descends on the Motherland.

Sadly, this is no laughing matter, especially since an estimated one million people starved to death in North Korea in the late 1990s. Furthermore, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned last month that six million people were in urgent need of food aid.

While it's difficult to actually gauge the severity of the situation on the ground, reports that ordinary North Koreans have taken to scavenging for wild foods are not very encouraging. On that note, let's all hope and pray that this super noodle really is the miracle food it's purported to be.

** Images courtesy of the WikiCommons Media Project **