NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 313 (May 15, 2014)
2014/05/15 09:58
FOREIGN TIPS
Australia donates US$2.8 mln in food aid to N. Korea
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Australia has donated 3 million Australian dollars (US$2.8 million) to help feed children and pregnant women in North Korea, a U.S. news report said on May 14.
The Australian government earmarked the money for donation for North Korean children and mothers-to-be for fiscal 2013 spanning from July last year to June 2014, and they finished the paperwork for the donation to the World Food Programme (WFP) in early May, according to the report by the Washington-based Radio Free Asia.
Jenna Hand, a spokeswoman for the Australian Agency for International Development, said some agency officials visited North Korea late last year to inspect food distribution by the WFP there.
The Australian government, however, has no further budget earmarked for aid to the impoverished country, she said.
Australia severed its direct development assistance to North Korea in 2002 after the North officially announced its development of nuclear weapons. Since then the country's aid has been limited to humanitarian help through international bodies.
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3 N. Korean crew members to stand trial in Panama in June: report
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Three members of a North Korean ship seized by Panama last year for carrying Cuban weapons are scheduled to appear for a trial in Panama next month, a U.S. radio report said on May 13.
The court set the date for June 4 for the captain and two crew members of the Chong Chon Gang, the Washington-based Voice of America said, citing Prosecutor Roberto Moreno of the Panamanian Attorney General's Office.
Moreno said a judge can issue a ruling within 30 days, though it may take months if the North Koreans appeal the verdict.
The trial comes 11 months after the Panamanian authorities seized the North Korean ship carrying Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missile and other arms-related material hidden under sacks of sugar.
Panama released the other 32 crew members of the Chong Chon Gang without charge after North Korea paid US$690,000 in fines in February.
A panel of experts said in a report to the United Nations Security Council that the shipment itself and the transaction between North Korea and Cuba were violations of sanctions imposed on North Korea.
The example of Panama with the Chong Chon Gang shows that determined action can thwart prohibited activities on the basis of existing measures, the panel said in the report published in March.
North Korea "presents a stiff challenge to Member States" of the United Nations, the panel said.
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N. Korea expected to produce 1.9 mln tons of rice in 2014: U.N. food agency
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea is expected to produce 1.9 million tons of rice in 2014, the same amount that the country is estimated to have produced last year, the U.N. food agency said on May 13.
The figure represents an increase from 2010, 2011 and 2012 when North Korea's average rice production reached 1.7 million tons, the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a biannual global food report posted on its website.
The report said per capita rice consumption in North Korea is forecast to reach 67.8 kilograms this year, compared with 65.4 kg from a year earlier.
It also said North Korea is forecast to produce 2.3 million tons of maize this year, compared with 2.2 million tons in 2013.
Rice is a key staple food for both South and North Koreans, though North Koreans also rely on maize due to chronic food shortages.
The North has relied on international handouts since the late 1990s when it suffered a widespread famine that was estimated to have killed 2 million people.
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