NK News: North Korea calls on Global Fund to reconsider termination of grants
“North Korean Vice Minister of Public Health Kim Hyong Hun has urged the Global Fund to reconsider its recent decision to end grants for the treatment of tuberculosis and malaria in the DPRK, state media reported on Tuesday. According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim sent a letter to Peter Sands — the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria — on March 10…” (Macdonald, 3/13).

Xinhua News: DPRK urges Global Fund not to stop grants on humanitarian grounds
“…The vice minister said the decision could not be seen as anything else but ‘the outcome of the pressure of some hostile forces,’ adding that the decision was made without any prior discussion with other international agencies operating in the DPRK. The agency’s decision was timed with the U.S. announcement of keeping ‘maximum pressure’ on the DPRK, Kim said” (3/13).