North Korea has asked the south for 150,000 tons of fertilizer. This is in addition to the 200,000 tons sent earlier this year. Last year, the south sent 300,000 tons of fertilizer north. The food situation in the north is desperate, with starvation and malnutrition increasing. As usual, northern leaders offer only vague promises of the possibility of halting their ballistic missile programs, in return for "normal relations with the United States." Foreign donations of food have declined because the north refuses to give up their nukes or missiles. So they either have to grow more food, or face mass starvation.