As more and more pressure is put on North Korea in the wake of its latest intercontinental ballistic missile test, the UN World Food Program announced it has stopped delivering food supplies to the state.
The international body claims that a lack of money has made the deliveries impossible. According to Lim Hyoung-joon, head of WFP Korea, the agency needs to collect a total $25.5 million to be able to provide food for children and other vulnerable groups in North Korea for the next six months. They've only got about half.
"We need an additional $14.6 million to reach the goal. Once we secure the money, WFP will provide the aid to those kindergarteners," Lim said.
According to Korea Times, the agency prioritizes pregnant women and children under the age of two ahead of children between two and five years of age. Since the agency could not secure the full sum, they decided to cut the aid for the older children.
Current WFP aid to North Korea is 66 grams of cereal to children under five and 132 grams of cereal to pregnant women daily in North Korea, the website reports.
In the meantime, UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman has traveled to North Korea to discuss "issues of mutual interest and concern," according to a UN statement. His schedule includes meetings with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, Vice Minister Pak Myong Guk and diplomats and UN staff, according to a report by The Telegraph.
"There are about 50 international staff working for six UN agencies in North Korea — the UN Development Program, the UN children's agency UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Food Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN Population Fund," the website reads.
