Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Financial Times
May 13, 2008 By Demetri Sevastopulo, Washington
The US has agreed to give North Korea 500,000 tonnes of food aid under a new deal that would allow monitors unprecedented access to oversee distribution in the Stalinist state.
Washington will supply 400,000 tonnes via the World Food Programme while US non-governmental organisations will distribute another 100,000 tonnes. President George W. Bush is expected to approve the deal “within days,” according to one official.
US officials said North Korea had agreed to provide unprecedented access to monitors to ensure the food reached the population and not just elites. Pyongyang will allow random inspections and more monitors into the country than under previous aid programmes.
The mechanism would also allow “port to mouth” inspections to protect against the siphoning off of food. The first shipment of 50,000 tonnes is expected to arrive in North Korea by early June, according to officials.
Jennifer Parmelee, a WFP spokeswoman, said the UN agency would “welcome” the resumption of US humanitarian assistance, but added “we have no word that any plans have been finalised”. The US will soon convene an experts meeting with the WFP, NGOs, and North Korean officials to determine what kind of food will be shipped.
The move comes as relief organisations warn that North Korea faces a looming humanitarian crisis because of rising prices sparked by substantial food shortfalls. The decision by North Korea to allow inspections across most of the country also stands in stark contrast to Burma, where the ruling military junta refuses to allow most relief workers into the cyclone-struck country.
The food aid deal comes as the US holds separate negotiations with Pyongyang towards completing the second phase of the six-party talks aimed at denuclearising the Korean peninsula. Officials rejected suggestions that there was any link between the issues.
The US official said North Korea had agreed to the more intrusive inspection regime because there was a higher level of trust between the governments because of the six-party talks. He added that North Korea was also feeling pressure because of the global food crisis, and the fact that South Korea and China had curtailed aid. A second official said the food deal had been closely co-ordinated with the South Korean government.
May 13, 2008 By Demetri Sevastopulo, Washington
The US has agreed to give North Korea 500,000 tonnes of food aid under a new deal that would allow monitors unprecedented access to oversee distribution in the Stalinist state.
Washington will supply 400,000 tonnes via the World Food Programme while US non-governmental organisations will distribute another 100,000 tonnes. President George W. Bush is expected to approve the deal “within days,” according to one official.
US officials said North Korea had agreed to provide unprecedented access to monitors to ensure the food reached the population and not just elites. Pyongyang will allow random inspections and more monitors into the country than under previous aid programmes.
The mechanism would also allow “port to mouth” inspections to protect against the siphoning off of food. The first shipment of 50,000 tonnes is expected to arrive in North Korea by early June, according to officials.
Jennifer Parmelee, a WFP spokeswoman, said the UN agency would “welcome” the resumption of US humanitarian assistance, but added “we have no word that any plans have been finalised”. The US will soon convene an experts meeting with the WFP, NGOs, and North Korean officials to determine what kind of food will be shipped.
The move comes as relief organisations warn that North Korea faces a looming humanitarian crisis because of rising prices sparked by substantial food shortfalls. The decision by North Korea to allow inspections across most of the country also stands in stark contrast to Burma, where the ruling military junta refuses to allow most relief workers into the cyclone-struck country.
The food aid deal comes as the US holds separate negotiations with Pyongyang towards completing the second phase of the six-party talks aimed at denuclearising the Korean peninsula. Officials rejected suggestions that there was any link between the issues.
The US official said North Korea had agreed to the more intrusive inspection regime because there was a higher level of trust between the governments because of the six-party talks. He added that North Korea was also feeling pressure because of the global food crisis, and the fact that South Korea and China had curtailed aid. A second official said the food deal had been closely co-ordinated with the South Korean government.