By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
The United States is stepping up its effort to provide medical aid to North Korean hospitals and so far has pledged $4 million (4 billion won) for the initiative. The U.S. government also reiterated that it will provide some 500,000 tons of food supplies to North Korea.
A team of U.S. delegates visited Pyongyang last week to discuss the monitoring of aid and the amount that would be supplied from the United States.
The Voice of America (VOA) reported Tuesday that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is working together with four non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide medical aid and related supplies to North Korea.
The groups plan to provide electrical generators to medical facilities in the North beginning next month. In the latter half of the year, the groups are planning to provide new medical equipment to North Korean hospitals.
The NGOs participating in the project include North Carolina-based Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, humanitarian aid organization Mercy Corps, which is based in Oregon and also Global Resource Services in Atlanta.
Global Resource Services President Robert Springs told the VOA that his group has already purchased four electrical generators this month.
His group plans to install them at medical facilities in Pyongang and Gangwon Provinces in North Korea by July 1. Springs said his organization began receiving related funds from USAID last month. Global Resource Services will also submit relevant expense reports to USAID every month for reimbursements in the future.
Additionally, Stephen Linton, chairman at Maryland-based humanitarian organization Eugene Bell Foundation, is visiting North Korea this week. He plans to meet with officials at medical facilities that will install electrical generators.
These NGOs are embarking on a three-year project to help upgrade medical facilities in North Korea and are likely to receive further grants and funds from the U.S. government for their effort.