UN Continues Giving Humanitarian Aid To North Korea Despite US Cutoff - Spokesman

The United Nations is providing humanitarian aid to North Korea and will continue to do so, even as the US blocks American aid workers from traveling to the communist nation, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Friday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2018) The United Nations is providing humanitarian aid to North Korea and will continue to do so, even as the US blocks American aid workers from traveling to the communist nation, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Friday.

"The UN system continues to work in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea] to alleviate the humanitarian situation there," Dujarric stated. "We're obviously concerned about the underfunding of our own work. I'll leave it at that."

Dujarric's statement came when asked to comment on a US decision to cut off humanitarian aid to Pyongyang.

Since September, the State Department has refused to grant special permission for American aid workers to travel to North Korea, US media reported last week.

The UN World food Program (WFP) has appealed this year for more than $50 million for North Korea, where the WFP estimates 10 million people are undernourished.

Some donors and companies, including shipping companies, have been reluctant to fund or to get involved in aid programs for North Korea due to US and UN sanctions, WFP officials said.