WASHINGTON — Experts have told U.N. investigators that North Korea's authoritarian leaders are to blame for the famine that killed hundreds of thousands in the 1990s. Investigators are probing possible crimes against humanity in North Korea.

Two American experts spoke at a Washington hearing by the U.N. commission of inquiry. They say former leader Kim Jong Il's regime continued acquisitions of fighter jets and failed to increase food imports to make up for a shortfall in food.

Andrew Natsios is former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Natsios says food was diverted and international aid barred from the northeast, where people are deemed disloyal to the regime.

Marcus Noland is an expert on North Korea's economy. He says the famine began before floods that Pyongyang blamed for the catastrophe.