UNDP officials to visit N. Korea to discuss suspended projects

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- Officials with the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) will visit North Korea later this month to discuss the reopening of its
office there and the resumption of projects suspended two years ago, a government
source said Wednesday.

UNDP officials visited Seoul last week and discussed the matter with South Korean
officials, the source said on condition of anonymity, adding that UNDP officials
will visit Pyongyang to discuss the resumption of the projects at some point.
The UNDP office in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang will likely reopen at
the end of June at the earliest, the source said, adding the projects will resume
thereafter.
The UNDP had been engaged in development projects in the North since 1981,
including agricultural development, human resource development and economic
reform programs, before withdrawing in March 2007 soon after suspicions arose
over North Korea's misappropriation of development funds.
The group's executive board made the decision to return in January after North
Korea allegedly agreed to guarantee independent auditing and to alter the methods
for payment and selection of North Korean staff. North Korea had previously
selected UNDP staff members in Pyongyang on its own.
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