Weapons tests, stalled talks complicate push for food aid to North Korea
South Korea's bid to assist drought-hit North gets bogged down
Seoul — North Korea is suffering its worst drought in decades and food supplies are reportedly running low, but South Korea’s push to provide aid is bogged down in the growing tension marked by missile tests and sanctions crackdowns. South Korea is seeking to send food directly to the North while scaling up donations to international agencies including the UN World Food Programme (WFP), two sources familiar with the matter said. If it comes off, it would mark the South’s first bilateral food aid since 2010, when it delivered 5,000 tons of rice. The WFP says more than 10-million North Koreans are in urgent need after crop output plunged to a decade low in 2018. On Monday, the Red Cross said 2019’s early drought is threatening the summer harvest, adding to the crisis. A devastating famine in the 1990s, exacerbated by drought, killed as many as a million North Koreans, with many resorting to eating tree bark and grass. The North’s official KCNA news agency on Wednesday said 2019’s ra...
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