No anomaly with North Korean aid, says Nielson

Date: 24/10/02

POUL Nielson, the EU's commissioner for humanitarian aid, has rejected calls for a probe into the alleged misuse of emergency assistance in North Korea.

According to the Dane, checks into the distribution of EU-funded drugs distribution programmes in the country have unearthed no evidence that aid is being misappropriated.

He was responding to a call by Italian Radical MEP Marco Cappato for inquiry into whether the Union's aid to the country is reaching the people most in need.

Cappato based his argument on press reports about allegations that aid is being siphoned off by the North Korean security forces.

Echo, the Commission's humanitarian office, was recently allocated an extra €4.2 million to boost healthcare projects in North Korea.

Nielson said that no 'anomaly of the sort mentioned' by Cappato had been detected in its drugs distribution programme.

He added that the sum involved is being completely chanelled through groups independent of the Pyongyang authorities, including the World Health Organization, the Red Cross and Handicap International.

And he added that North Korea had granted the groups concerned open access to 173 out of its 211 principles on the basis of 'no access, no aid' agreements.

Earlier this year a 'letter of understanding' was signed between Pyongyang and the EU's executive.

Nielson said this stipulates 'the specific requirements which the Commission expects to be met during the implementation of Echo funded projects'.

Poul Nielson, the EU's commissioner for humanitarian aid, has rejected calls for a probe into the alleged misuse of emergency assistance in North Korea.