UNDP Goes Silent on DPRK Aid
Cross-Posted at Left Flank (includes a bhTV diavlog featuring Mark Leon Goldberg and Matthew Lee)
Matthew Lee reporting from “deep in the weeds” at the United Nations is an inspiration for people who make a mission out of their jobs - in this case journalism. So, I’ll pass on his plaint/query, should the UN Development Programme have to publish its audits of its own budget, either to member states or us? UNDP wants to return to DPRK dispensing food aid to North Koreans, and damn what’s happening with the human rights situation or WMD. Is there a connection to the recent “health setback” Kim Jong-il suffered and Pyongyang’s return to a hardline WMD stance?
A South Korean official familiar with the talks said what lies ahead may be drawn-out negotiations but it did not mean Pyongyang was about to quit the disarmament process for good.
McCormack said the United States would also “remain engaged” with the North Koreans and would not give up on the six-nation process that led to the disarmament-for-aid deal.
The South Korean official said the North knows aid and disablement are linked. Energy-starved North Korea has been receiving partial shipments of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil for previous progress it has made under the deal.
Perhaps UNDP, all regional players, including the US, and Pyongyang have admitted to themselves what the rest of us have cynically believed all along: it’s back to square one.
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