U.N. MOVES TO UNBLOCK AID TO N. KOREA
Security Council to back US proposal aimed at easing delivery of humanitarian aid
THE United Nations Security Council is poised to back a United States proposal aimed at removing some of the hurdles that tough sanctions on North Korea have thrown up in the way of delivering humanitarian aid.
North Korea’s humanitarian crisis has left about 10 million people — nearly half of the population — undernourished, according to UN officials, who have reported a drop in food production last year.
UN resolutions specify that sanctions should not affect humanitarian aid, but relief organisations argue that strict trade and banking measures were creating bureaucratic obstacles and slowing down the flow of supplies.
A US proposal put forward last month would provide instructions to aid organisations and governments to apply for UN sanctions exemptions for North Korea.
After weeks of negotiations, the UN sanctions committee is expected to give final approval to the new guidelines on Monday.
Once approved, a notice will be sent to the UN’s 193 memberstates by the committee “to provide a clear explanation of its comprehensive humanitarian exemption mechanism” which will “improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance to DPRK”, according to the documents.
The move comes as the US is calling for maximum pressure to be maintained against North Korea to compel Kim Jong-un to follow through on his pledge to denuclearise the Korean peninsula.
After Russia and China urged the council to ease sanctions, US ambassador to UN Nikki Haley said UN should not do “one thing” until North Korea took action to dismantle its nuclear and missile programmes.
A US official said the guidelines would ensure that “only critical, life-saving humanitarian activities needed in North Korea can continue” and that requests for exemptions would undergo a detailed review.
Asked about the new guidelines, a Dutch official, speaking as the chair of the sanctions committee, said: “We want to make clear that this is about easing the process, not about easing the sanctions.”