North Korea appeals to foreign governments for food aid
North Korea has ordered all its embassies to appeal to foreign governments for food aid in a sign of growing desperation in Pyongyang, according to diplomatic sources.
This direct approach to foreign capitals, launched in December, is highly unusual for the insular and totalitarian regime, which normally negotiates deliveries of food assistance with international organisations such as the World Food Programme.
The WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organisation has begun a food needs assessment in North Korea, but the WFP said that last year it managed to raise only a fifth of the budget it needed for its North Korean aid programme.
That shortfall may be one of the reasons Pyongyang is trying a direct approach this year, observers said. But well-informed official sources in the region said that the regime was also having problems feeding the army, ...
