UN Consulting North Korea On Impact Of Food Shortages - Spokesman

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd February, 2019) The United Nations is in contact with the government of North Korea to further understand the impact of the food insecurity crisis, UN Secretary-General Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Friday.

"We are currently consulting with the government in the DPRK to further understand the impact of the food security situation on the most vulnerable people in the country," Dujarric said. "The government has told us that there is a gap in the food production for next year, notably, on the harvest of rice, wheat, and potato."

Dujarric said easing sanctions on North Korea to address the crisis is a matter for the UN Security Council. The spokesman conceded, however, that the restrictions do have undesirable side effects.

"Security Council sanctions exempt, clearly exempt, humanitarian activities, however, there have been a number of unintended consequences on humanitarian actions, notably, on issues related to banking, which has made our work a little bit more difficult," he said.

On Thursday, the United Nations said that North Korea's government had asked international humanitarian organizations to provide aid amid food shortages in the country.

According to Dujarric, North Korea faces a food gap in the production of about 1.4 million ton for 2019.

Despite the fact that the situation on the Korean peninsula has significantly improved since last year's high-level talks had been held between North Korea and the South as well as the United States, the country is still subject to international sanctions.