 |
| Price insisted the U.S. was already doing all it can to help ease the suffering of North Korean people. (File photo courtesy of USAID Asia) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] WASHINGTON: A State Department spokesperson revealed on Friday that the United States supports providing humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable people of North Korea, however, suggesting U.S. opposition to easing U.N. sanctions on the recalcitrant country.
"When we think about and assess the humanitarian suffering of the people of the DPRK, the simple truth is that the DPRK regime itself is responsible for the humanitarian situation in the country," Ned Price said in a telephonic press briefing, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding the DPRK remain in effect and all UN member states are bound by their obligations under those resolutions," he added.
The remarks came shortly after U.N. Special Rapporteur on North Korean Human Rights Tomas Ojea Quintana argued U.N. sanctions on the impoverished North should be eased during the COVID-19 pandemic. As long as the borders continue to be closed, we may be facing the risk of starvation among some segments of the population in the country," Quintana said in a press conference in New York. Price insisted the U.S. was already doing all it can to help ease the suffering of North Korean people.
