ID :
185073
Sun, 05/29/2011 - 05:11
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/185073
The shortlink copeid
EU to send aid officials to N. Korea to assess food situation
SEOUL, May 29 (Yonhap) -- The European Union (EU) plans to send a team of aid officials to North Korea to assess the food situation in the impoverished nation, a government source said Sunday, as a group of U.S. officials have been in the communist nation on a similar mission.
The EU team, which will comprise officials of the humanitarian aid department of the European Commission, plans to enter North Korea right after the U.S. delegation ends its trip next week, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The EU officials will be in the North for about two weeks, visiting provincial areas to look into how serious the food shortages are there. Washington is expected to withhold its decision on aid to the North until after the EU team comes up with an assessment report, the official said.
The U.S. delegation, led by human rights envoy Robert King, arrived in the North on May 24. On Saturday, King flew out of the North along with an American citizen who had been held for six months. Pyongyang's release of him was seen as an overture to win aid from Washington.
North Korea, which has relied on outside assistance to feed its 24 million population, has stepped up calls for food aid in recent months as its economic woes have deepened in the wake of sanctions for provocations, including last year's two deadly attacks on the South.
South Korea holds negative views on possible aid resumption to the North because it could undercut international pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programs and take responsibility for last year's attacks.
Officials in Seoul have questioned the motives behind the North's calls for food aid, saying last year's harvests were better than the year before. There are also suspicious that the regime might be trying to stock up on food for use during massive celebrations on the 100th birthday of the North's late national founder, Kim Il-sung, next year.
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The EU team, which will comprise officials of the humanitarian aid department of the European Commission, plans to enter North Korea right after the U.S. delegation ends its trip next week, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The EU officials will be in the North for about two weeks, visiting provincial areas to look into how serious the food shortages are there. Washington is expected to withhold its decision on aid to the North until after the EU team comes up with an assessment report, the official said.
The U.S. delegation, led by human rights envoy Robert King, arrived in the North on May 24. On Saturday, King flew out of the North along with an American citizen who had been held for six months. Pyongyang's release of him was seen as an overture to win aid from Washington.
North Korea, which has relied on outside assistance to feed its 24 million population, has stepped up calls for food aid in recent months as its economic woes have deepened in the wake of sanctions for provocations, including last year's two deadly attacks on the South.
South Korea holds negative views on possible aid resumption to the North because it could undercut international pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programs and take responsibility for last year's attacks.
Officials in Seoul have questioned the motives behind the North's calls for food aid, saying last year's harvests were better than the year before. There are also suspicious that the regime might be trying to stock up on food for use during massive celebrations on the 100th birthday of the North's late national founder, Kim Il-sung, next year.
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