N.Korea asks UN to end humanitarian aid
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-23 07:00

"Humanitarian assistance cannot last too long," Choe said after traveling to New York to address the U.N. General Assembly. "We have very good farming this year. Our government is prepared to provide the food to all our people."

The North's move means an uncertain future for the largest international food aid agency in the country, the U.N. World Food Program, which aims to feed 6.5 million of North Korea's most at-risk people among the country's population of 22.5 million.

The program reported recently that while North Korea's severe food shortage had eased with the help of a good harvest of staples this year, international help was still needed.

Without outside donations, the North would not be able to provide food to many children, pregnant women, urban poor and elderly, the U.N. agency said.

While South Korea has also stepped up its food aid to the North, aid workers said it was distributed with less frequent monitoring than assistance from the World Food Program.

The WFP conducts about 5,000 to 6,000 monitoring visits a year to ensure the food reaches the people who most need it.

The WFP's operation in the North received more than 270,690 tonnes of food this year and expected a further 33,000 tonnes before the end of the year.

North Korea also receives some medicines and vaccines from the World Health Organization and the U.N. Children's Fund, UNICEF, U.N. officials said.

The impact of the North Korean decision was still unclear, said one U.N. aid official, who said the world body was still in discussions with Pyongyang.