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UN says North Korea aid faces ‘significant underfunding’

April 9, 2015
This Rodong Sinmun photo released on Feb. 11, 2015 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting the construction site of an orphanage in Wonsan on the east coast. (Yonhap)

This Rodong Sinmun photo released on Feb. 11, 2015 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting the construction site of an orphanage in Wonsan on the east coast. (Yonhap)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A new United Nations report says humanitarian aid for North Korea faces “significant underfunding” while about 70 percent of the population faces food insecurity, and it says recent U.S. sanctions forced U.N. agencies to suspend some programs and operations last year.

U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos on Wednesday tweeted the report on the poor but nuclear-armed country.

The report acknowledges the sharp restrictions that North Korea’s government imposes on aid operations, saying the ability of U.N. agencies to freely access communities “is still out of reach.”

The U.N. is asking the international community for $111 million for North Korea operations in 2015, its lowest such funding appeal since at least 2009.

The report says North Korea’s government in the past couple of years is more openly recognizing its needs.