U.N. Rejects North Korea’s Assertion That It Can Do Without Food Aid

U.N. humanitarian affairs chief Jan Egeland said Friday that North Korea was not ready to feed its people on its own, and that he was trying to persuade Pyongyang to continue food aid to the country’s children.

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon on Thursday asked U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to halt the food program, which has fed nearly a third of the nation’s population annually, by December.

“My heart goes out, really, to the children of North Korea, and I appeal to the government to help us feed them,” Egeland said.

“Our government is prepared to provide food to all our people,” Choe said Thursday, adding that North Korea remained interested in development aid.

Choe said that his nation did not want to become too reliant on outside aid, and that relief had become too politicized, particularly by the United States, “by linking it to human rights issues.”

The isolated nation, which has a policy of juche, or self-reliance, faced severe famines over the last decade that killed an estimated 2 million people. Though North Korea is better able to feed its population and expects a good winter harvest, about 7% of its 22.5 million people are still starving and 37% remain chronically malnourished, Egeland said.

“Our assessment is that they will not be able to have enough food,” he said. “We are very concerned because we think this is too soon and too abrupt.”

The U.N. World Food Program, UNICEF and the World Health Organization, along with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and 11 other aid groups, are providing food and medical and emergency aid to North Korea.

South Korea has pledged new food aid, but Egeland said it would not be enough to fill the gap if the U.N. pulled out.

Because North Korea will still accept development assistance, U.N. officials are negotiating ways to continue feeding the hungry in a different guise. Meals for schoolchildren could be reclassified as an educational program, Egeland said, adding that the World Food Program already pays some workers with food.

Development aid, Egeland noted, typically is used to build infrastructure, bolster agriculture and promote self-sufficiency.

But some international donors worry that giving development aid makes them appear to endorse Pyongyang’s harsh communist regime.

“Many of them are not interested in that,” Egeland said. “They are interested in meeting humanitarian needs only. This could lead to a big decrease in programs.”