N. Korea to Stop Accepting Food Aid

The U.N. World Food Program failed to reach agreement with North Korea after two days of negotiations in Pyongyang on continuing emergency food aid and will end those activities by the end of December, the agency’s top official said here Thursday.

North Korea argues that it has enough to feed its 23 million people after an improved harvest this year, supplemented by assistance from China and South Korea.

Analysts say, however, that malnutrition remains a serious problem, particularly among women and children. The real reason the regime is ending emergency assistance and asking nonprofit groups to leave, they said, is its desire to reduce the number of foreigners living in North Korea and terminate U.N. monitoring aimed at ensuring that food for hungry citizens isn’t diverted to the military.

“They are concerned about the number of international staff and our high standards for monitoring to help ensure that food actually gets to those who need it most,” said James Morris, executive director of the World Food Program.

China and South Korea do not ask where their aid to North Korea ends up, an approach preferred by officials in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

The WFP has distributed millions of tons of food in the country over the last decade, feeding millions of people at a cost of more than $1.7 billion. North Korea said it was willing to have the U.N. agency stay in a development role -- helping to build irrigation systems and make cement and handling other infrastructure projects -- but only if its staff was reduced from the current level of 32 foreigners.

The WFP said it must speak with donor countries and decide whether it can continue to work effectively within these limitations. “We have to give some careful thought to this over the next two, three, four weeks,” Morris added.

In recent months, North Korean leaders have taken steps to further tighten their political grip. After a short period of allowing the use of cellphones, the regime reversed its decision. It has wrested back control over basic trade in cereal grains, routing these essentials through the state distribution system rather than commercial markets. In this latest step, it has ordered foreign nongovernmental organizations out by the end of the year.

“We’ve been asked to stop operating by the 31st of December,” said Padraig O’Ruairc, country director with Concern, an Irish charity working on water, sanitation, health and forestry projects in North Korea since the late 1990s. “The government has been courteous. Even if we do leave, we hope in that spirit to be able to work with them in the future.”

Other nongovernmental organizations said they too were winding down their operations, even as they held out hope for a last-minute change of thinking.

“There have been a lot of rumors flying around,” said the head of one foreign aid organization, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak for his group.

The WFP has devoted substantial resources to monitoring where its food contributions go. More than half of its foreign staff in the country is involved, traveling a combined 15,500 miles a month within the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the country’s formal name.

This helps ensure not only that food gets into the right hands, agency officials said, but that the programs are effective. “I suspect they are uncomfortable with the large number of non-DPRK citizens wandering around the country,” Morris said.

Richard Ragan, WFP’s North Korea country director, said the nation faced a significant challenge next year channeling up to 300,000 tons of food through its own distribution system, considering how few warehouses, trains and trucks it has.

United Nations officials said they applauded North Korea’s desire to become more self-sufficient and focused on development but questioned whether enough food would reach the more vulnerable segments of society.

The WFP is in the process of closing its five district offices and 19 factories and winding down distribution activities. It is feeding fewer than 10% of the 6.5 million people it had been serving. A shipment of 25,000 tons of U.S.-donated food was recently halted before it crossed the border.

“We won’t feed anyone past Dec. 31,” Ragan said. “We’re in closing mode.”

Analysts say it’s always difficult to ascertain North Korea’s motives, given its secretive system and insular thinking. But a couple of factors appear to be driving the decision.

“In the eyes of North Korea, nongovernmental organizations are subversive, trying to undermine their system,” said Shi Yinhong, a professor with People’s University in Beijing. “It’s also revenge against U.S. accusations that North Korea is engaged in counterfeiting, smuggling and drug trafficking. To toss out the NGOs is perhaps the only measure it can take other than condemning Washington.”

However, Piao Jianyi, a Korea specialist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he did not expect the policy change to hurt the North Korean economy.

“I don’t believe Pyongyang is doing this to save face or strengthen political control,” he said. “This is quite normal for a government. Imagine if your family was very poor and other people decided to give you food, then came to your house and overturned everything. How would you like it?”