U.N. helps N. Korea feed its hungry
with food distribution into next year
By Jim Lea, Stars and Stripes
The U.N. World Food Program will give 810,000 tons of food this year
to North Korea.
The food will feed 7.6 million North Koreans, about one-third of that
nation’s population, said Catherine Bertini, executive director of the program.
Bertini spoke Monday at a news conference in Seoul, according to the Korea Information
Service.
Another 700,000 tons will be sent next year, Bertini said.
The World Food Program has 56 foreign staff members in five North
Korean cities monitoring food distribution in 167 counties, KIS said.
During Bertini’s trip to the North, North Korean officials were
persuaded to allow monitors access to more counties, she said. But she didn’t say how
many more.
Earlier this week, a South Korean agriculture expert who has been
teaching North Korean farmers how to grow more corn said this year’s harvest will be
the largest in a decade. However, Bertini said her agency disagrees with that assessment.
“We are not so optimistic,” she said.
North Korea recently said there will be a shortfall in the overall
grain and vegetable harvests this year because of torrential rains and flooding.
Bertini also said that Pyongyang has agreed to allow the World Food
Program and U.N. Children’s Fund to conduct a child nutritional survey next year.
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