US seeks to expedite N. Korea aid in bid to resume stalled nuke talks
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United States officials will try to expedite humanitarian aid to North Korea, a US envoy said yesterday, as Washington and Pyongyang struggle to find a breakthrough in stalled talks aimed at ending North Korea鈥檚 nuclear program.
Stephen Biegun, the US special representative for North Korea, made the announcement as he arrived in Seoul for four days of talks with South Korean officials.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to work toward denuclearization at his landmark summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June but the two sides have since made little progress.
With Washington doubling down on sanctions enforcement, humanitarian aid for North Korea has nearly ground to a halt this year, despite fears of a potential food crisis, aid groups say.
International sanctions imposed over North Korea鈥檚 nuclear weapons and missile programs technically do not cover humanitarian activities, and over the summer the United Nations adopted a US proposal designed to streamline approval for aid shipments.
But strict interpretations of UN sanctions curtailing banking and shipping deals with Pyongyang, as well as a travel ban for US citizens, have effectively shut down the North Korea operations of most relief groups, according to officials at UN agencies and civilian organizations.
鈥淚鈥檒l be sitting down with American aid groups early in the new year to discuss how we can better ensure the delivery of appropriate assistance, particularly through the course of the coming winter,鈥 Biegun told reporters in Seoul, noting that the US would work with the UN in reviewing how it grants sanctions exemptions for aid.
He acknowledged that the travel ban 鈥 which requires American aid workers to obtain special permission from the US State Department before traveling to North Korea 鈥 鈥渕ay have impacted the delivery of humanitarian assistance.鈥
Early next year, US officials will review how they grant that permission for the 鈥減urposes of facilitating the delivery of aid鈥 to North Korea, Biegun said.
Part of the catalyst for the review was the expulsion of an American citizen who had illegally entered North Korea in October, he said. Pyongyang handled the man鈥檚 case 鈥渆xpeditiously and with great discretion,鈥 giving US officials 鈥済reater confidence about the safety and security of Americans traveling鈥 to North Korea.
Biegun鈥檚 visit to Seoul comes as negotiations between the US and North Korea appear stalled, with the two sides yet to reschedule talks between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol after abruptly canceling a meeting in November.
Trump has said a second summit with Kim is likely to take place in January or February, though he wrote on Twitter last week that he is 鈥渋n no hurry.鈥
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