A Chinese magazine featuring a front page story on the future successor of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il goes on sale at a newsstand in Beijing December14, 2010. North Korea agreed to proposed emergency talks among six-party negotiators to ease tensions between the Koreas, officials said. The agreement was reached when Chinese leaders met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Ill in Pyongyang last week, Yonhap News reported Tuesday. UPI/Stephen Shaver |
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PYONGYANG, North Korea, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- North Korea, beset by floods, an outbreak of a livestock disease and a harsh winter, ordered its embassies to seek help to feed its citizens, observers say.
The request by North Korean embassies and diplomatic offices worldwide has put the United States and its allies in a quandary of having to decide whether to ignore the requests to help feed a starving country or meet the requests and help a corrupt system known to distribute food to people who don't need it, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
The United States, which suspended food aid to North Korea two years ago over distribution concerns, "has no plans for any contributions at this time," Kurt Campbell, the State Department's top East Asia official, told the Post.
The United Nations' World Food Program, which handles much of the food aid in North Korea, said its food supply could maintain operations in the country for one more month.
The organization said it should complete its assessment of North Korea's food situation next month, which could influence how foreign governments respond. Records indicate an estimated 1 million people died in a famine in the early- and mid-1990s.
A public food rations distribution system collapsed 20 years ago, the newspaper said. Since then, North Korea developed a grass-roots network of private markets.
Researchers and non-government organizations disagree on the amount of food aid the North Korean government diverts, with estimates ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent, the Post said. Experts said the diverted food is given to the military, redistributed as gifts or resold to vendors in markets.
Pyongyang has banned food aid monitors from traveling to the vulnerable provinces, the Post said. Although exceptions have been made, diplomatic officials said North Korea usually demands a week's notice before monitors can visit an area.
