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Aid groups hopeful US will ease N.Korea restrictions
WASHINGTON, Jan 11, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Aid groups voiced optimism Thursday
that the United States would ease restrictions on operations inside North
Korea amid warming relations between Washington and the impoverished country.
Stephen Biegun, the US special representative on North Korea, met Wednesday
in Washington with representatives of aid organizations, which have faced
lengthy delays or prohibitions on providing assistance inside the
totalitarian state.
The UN Security Council has imposed strict sanctions on North Korea over
its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. While humanitarian groups can
seek exemptions from a Security Council committee, the United States has
often refused or delayed consideration of waivers.
Richard Blewitt, the permanent observer to the United Nations of the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said that
the meeting discussed humanitarian needs including food support, health and
medicine.
Biegun “highlighted that the US recognized the significant humanitarian
challenges in (North Korea) and the need by the US government and others to
fully enable the humanitarian community to do their work,” Blewitt told AFP.
Mercy Corps, a US-based non-governmental group that was active in fighting
hunger during North Korea’s famine in the 1990s — but halted operations in
2014 — also voiced optimism and said a follow-up meeting was scheduled.
Biegun “made clear that Secretary of State (Mike) Pompeo is committed to
considering humanitarian workers’ requests, in a timely fashion, to visit
North Korea while also taking into account the State Department’s concerns
over the safety of Americans traveling there,” said Mercy Corps spokesman
Christopher Allbritton.
The State Department declined to comment on the ongoing talks. But speaking
to reporters last month in Seoul, Biegun signaled that the United States
would be more lenient with aid workers on enforcing its blanket ban on US
citizens’ travel to North Korea.
President Donald Trump is keen to meet soon with North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un in a sequel to their historic summit in June, as the United States
seeks an agreement on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday he believed the summit was
“imminent” after Kim held talks in China, North Korea’s primary ally.
UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said after a visit last year that there
were “significant humanitarian challenges” in North Korea, with some 20
percent of children stunted by malnutrition, despite some progress in recent
years.
BSS.AFP/GMR/0910 hrs