Foreign Policy: White House Rebuffs U.N. Appeal to Expand North Korea Food Aid
“David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), is seeking to exploit a diplomatic thaw between Pyongyang and Washington to potentially secure hundreds of millions of dollars from donor countries to dramatically expand U.N. relief operations in North Korea. But the former Republican governor from South Carolina has encountered resistance from the White House, even as President Donald Trump prepares to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore next month. According to two diplomatic sources, White House officials rebuffed Beasley’s appeal for funds in a meeting in late April. … If the United States commits funds to food aid, U.N. officials say, other countries, including Japan and South Korea, are likely to give more generously…” (Lynch, 5/15).