Famine-struck N Koreans 'eating children'

Instinctively, I don't want to believe it, and when trying to trace down to the origin news releas(es), I keep finding the same two or three tales quoted in articles. Smells fishy. There's a lack of big-name press reports. And yet, I found a report regarding the late-90's famine that made reference to "isolated acts of cannibilism" during that time period, which implies a certain precedent. The article linked above, however, is pretty clear about the lack of substantiation.

World Food Programme - Korea (DPR)

French aid workers report cannibalism in famine-stricken North Korea (1998)

Famine Pushes North Koreans to Cannibalism (1999)

US Institute of Peace: North Korea's Decline and China's Strategic Dilemmas (1997)