North Korea has developed a new weapon to combat its worst food shortage in nearly a decade - a noodle made of corn and soybeans that it says leaves people feeling fuller than ordinary noodles.

Development of the noodle reportedly represents a sort of technological breakthrough because soybeans don't contain any starch and, therefore, are difficult to make into noodles.

Scientists at a research institute developed the noodles, according to reports in the Chosun Sinbo, a pro-North Korean newspaper based in Japan.

They leave people feeling fuller longer because they contain almost twice the protein and five times more fat than the noodles normally consumed by North Koreans.

Soybeans are not a staple food in North Korea and, if eaten, are used as a side dish such as side dishes such as fermented bean curd and bean sprouts.

Development of the noodle, which will be available across the country soon, comes at a critical time when up to six million people there are in need of food aid because of flooding. Many people have resorted to foraging grasses and edible plant roots to eat, according to the United Nations World Food Program.