By John Burton
It might seem perverse for a country where 40 percent of the population faces the risk of going hungry that North Korea should request a reduction in the number of United Nations humanitarian aid workers there by the end of 2019.
But the intention of Pyongyang's rather unusual request might be to underscore its unhappiness over what is sees as the U.N.'s slow progress in approving sanctions exemptions for the supply of materials related to humanitarian relief.
North Korea has preferred the U.N. as the main deliverer of humanitarian aid since it is considered more neutral than other groups, and one in which Pyongyang is represented. U.N. agencies are involved in food, nutrition, water and health projects and reach more than two million people in North Korea.
Earlier this month, Kim Chang-min, head of North Korea's National Coordinating Committee for the U.N., said in a letter to the top U.N. official in Pyongyang, Tapan Mishra, that his government valued its collaboration with U.N. agencies and appreciated Mishra's efforts "to reactivate U.N. support" for the country.
But Kim then added that North Korea wanted the U.N. to cut the number of its staff in the country because its programs have "failed to bring the results as desired due to the politicization of U.N. assistance by hostile forces." He noted that the "scope and amount of U.N. intervention in the country run [sic] dramatically low" as a result.
The requested staff cuts for three U.N. agencies would be somewhat symbolic since it would only reduce the number of workers from 25 to 16 if fully implemented. North Korea wants the number of international staff with the U.N. Development Program to be cut to one or two from six, the World Health Organization to four from six and the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) should cut its 13 staff by one or two.
The number of international staff with another U.N. agency, the World Food Program, would be determined according to the amount of food aid to be provided in a strategic plan for 2019-2021.
What appears to be at issue is the slow response of the U.N. Sanctions Committee on North Korea to grant exemptions to humanitarian groups to provide aid, which impedes their operations despite U.N. promises that the sanctions are not meant to interfere with humanitarian work.
This situation and related problems were highlighted in a recent U.N. report on the human rights situation in North Korea.
"As in 2018, sanctions imposed on the country, while not intended to affect humanitarian assistance, generated serious, unintended consequences and had a major impact on life-saving humanitarian programs owing to disruptions to the banking channel, the breakdown of supply chains, delays in the transportation of vital goods into the country and a steady decline in donor funding," it stated.
The report noted that the U.N. had introduced measures in August 2018 to expedite the sanctions exemption process for humanitarian operations, but "delays continue. Transportation costs and lead times have continued to increase, and humanitarian agencies are struggling to procure sufficient supplies from vendors. The challenges presented by the collapsed banking channel have not been solved, which hampers the implementation of humanitarian activities in the country."
Meanwhile, there was a 76 percent shortfall in requested funding for U.N. humanitarian programs in North Korea in 2018. "The appeal to improve the humanitarian situation in (North Korea) is among the lowest funded in the world, constraining the humanitarian operations in the country even further," it said.
The report recommended that U.N. member states should "provide adequate and sustainable funding for humanitarian assistance, especially food and medicine, with a view to improving humanitarian conditions and the human rights situation in the country."
John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.
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But the intention of Pyongyang's rather unusual request might be to underscore its unhappiness over what is sees as the U.N.'s slow progress in approving sanctions exemptions for the supply of materials related to humanitarian relief.
North Korea has preferred the U.N. as the main deliverer of humanitarian aid since it is considered more neutral than other groups, and one in which Pyongyang is represented. U.N. agencies are involved in food, nutrition, water and health projects and reach more than two million people in North Korea.
Earlier this month, Kim Chang-min, head of North Korea's National Coordinating Committee for the U.N., said in a letter to the top U.N. official in Pyongyang, Tapan Mishra, that his government valued its collaboration with U.N. agencies and appreciated Mishra's efforts "to reactivate U.N. support" for the country.
But Kim then added that North Korea wanted the U.N. to cut the number of its staff in the country because its programs have "failed to bring the results as desired due to the politicization of U.N. assistance by hostile forces." He noted that the "scope and amount of U.N. intervention in the country run [sic] dramatically low" as a result.
The requested staff cuts for three U.N. agencies would be somewhat symbolic since it would only reduce the number of workers from 25 to 16 if fully implemented. North Korea wants the number of international staff with the U.N. Development Program to be cut to one or two from six, the World Health Organization to four from six and the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) should cut its 13 staff by one or two.
The number of international staff with another U.N. agency, the World Food Program, would be determined according to the amount of food aid to be provided in a strategic plan for 2019-2021.
What appears to be at issue is the slow response of the U.N. Sanctions Committee on North Korea to grant exemptions to humanitarian groups to provide aid, which impedes their operations despite U.N. promises that the sanctions are not meant to interfere with humanitarian work.
This situation and related problems were highlighted in a recent U.N. report on the human rights situation in North Korea.
"As in 2018, sanctions imposed on the country, while not intended to affect humanitarian assistance, generated serious, unintended consequences and had a major impact on life-saving humanitarian programs owing to disruptions to the banking channel, the breakdown of supply chains, delays in the transportation of vital goods into the country and a steady decline in donor funding," it stated.
The report noted that the U.N. had introduced measures in August 2018 to expedite the sanctions exemption process for humanitarian operations, but "delays continue. Transportation costs and lead times have continued to increase, and humanitarian agencies are struggling to procure sufficient supplies from vendors. The challenges presented by the collapsed banking channel have not been solved, which hampers the implementation of humanitarian activities in the country."
Meanwhile, there was a 76 percent shortfall in requested funding for U.N. humanitarian programs in North Korea in 2018. "The appeal to improve the humanitarian situation in (North Korea) is among the lowest funded in the world, constraining the humanitarian operations in the country even further," it said.
The report recommended that U.N. member states should "provide adequate and sustainable funding for humanitarian assistance, especially food and medicine, with a view to improving humanitarian conditions and the human rights situation in the country."
John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.
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