Aid Accepted by North Korea

There is a major food crisis in North Korea but aid to that country has been heavily restricted by the government. WFP has asked to help but has not been allowed to until now. Only approximately 1.2 million people are receiving food assistance through WFP, but it is believed that as many as 5 million people are in extreme need.

A report in the New York Times yesterday said that North Korea had agreed to allow 50 additional aid workers (10 UN workers were there already) and shipments of food into the country. An article today (also in the NYT) said that a freighter with 37,000 tons of wheat had arrived in Nampo (the north port), and that it was the first shipment of 500,000 tons that has been promised to this country by the WFP and other organizations.

International workers were first invited to North Korea in the food crisis of 1996 after which approximately 2 million people died. Bad harvests, rising grain and food prices, and less assistance from other countries (such as China and South Korea) are factors in the increasing serious food crisis in North Korea. WFP says that North Korea is facing a shortfall of approximately 1.5 million tons of grain--the worst shortfall since 2001.

North Korea has approximately 200 counties. Before the recent agreement had been reached, aid workers could only access 50 counties. Under the new agreement, 128 counties will receive assistance.

Want to know more? Check out this article on the WFP web site
http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2877

or this article on the NYT site
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/asia/01korea.html?ref=world