U.S. to give more food aid to NK
From CNN State Department Producer Elise Labott
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North Korean women harvest rice.
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| AT A GLANCE |
North Korea's vital signs:
Leader: Kim Jong-il
Capital: Pyongyang
Area: 120,540 sq km
Arable land: 14%
Population: 23 million
GDP :$22 billion (2002 est)
in purchasing power parity
Growth rate: 1% (2002 est)
Economic sectors: Agriculture 30%, industry 32%, services 38%
Agriculture: Grains, pulses, cattle, pigs, vegetables, opium
Resources: Coal, iron ore, other minerals, hydropower
Exports: Minerals, manufactures (including arms), textiles, fishery products
Imports: Petroleum, coking coal, machinery & equipment, grain
Sources: EIA, CIA, IMF
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States will give additional food aid to North Korea now that the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) has reported fewer obstacles to monitoring distribution, the U.S. State Department says
The U.S. Agency for International Development will give an additional 60,000 tonnes of emergency food aid to North Korea through the WFP, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a written statement Wednesday.
The United States had already contributed 40,000 tonnes toward the World Food Program's $171 million appeal for North Korea in 2003. The new donation will bring the U.S. contribution to nearly 20 percent of the WFP's total appeal for the country, Boucher said.
The new aid comes amid faltering efforts by the United States and China at getting North Korea to attend six-party talks -- along with South Korea, Japan and Russia -- about its nuclear program. But U.S. officials have said repeatedly that food aid to North Korea is not tied to progress on the nuclear front.
In February, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States would cut its aid to North Korea to between 40,000 and 100,000 tonnes, tying the final figure to the ability of donors to track distribution.
Last year, the United States gave 157,000 tonnes, but Powell said the WFP had asked for less aid in 2003.
In his statement, Boucher said the administration reached the decision fter it received two letters from WFP Executive Director James Morris, who warned about 4 million of North Korea's most vulnerable citizens would not be fed this (northern hemisphere) winter without additional donations and emphasized the United States was "uniquely positioned to help."
'Improvements needed'
Morris also noted some progress on the WFP's operating conditions in North Korea, including increased access across the county, Boucher said.
The WFP also was allowed increased monitoring and was provided information on wages and prices so it could determine citizens' ability to receive food. However, he said that the WFP still had the same concerns about monitoring and access that the United States did.
"We again call on North Korea to adhere to the same standards of humanitarian access that apply to other recipients of international food assistance," Boucher said.
"We will work with the World Food Program and other donor countries to achieve needed improvements."
Boucher said the United States would decide at a later date how to respond to WFP's 2004 appeal for North Korea.
