Concern has been mounting in recent months about worsening food shortages in North Korea, and if a new report is to be believed, the situation has grown so severe that people are even resorting to cannibalism to survive.

Earlier this week, South Korean media claimed that desperate North Koreans might be eating other human beings as grain prices rise, citing the alleged testimony of defectors who crossed the inter-Korean border in mid-May.

The shocking claims come with heavy caveats. For one, the recent reports are based on information heard through the grapevine — coming from South Korean authorities who