U.S. food aid ship arrives in North Korea

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U.S. food aid ship arrives in North Korea as rioters in the Southcontinue to protest over American beef imports

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:43 AM on 30th June 2008 Comments ( 0 ) Add to My Stories
A U.S. ship carrying thousands of tons of food aid arrived in NorthKorea after the impoverished nation agreed to open up to widelyexpanded international assistance, the UN food agency said Monday.
The World Food Program said the American ship that arrived Sundaycarried 37,000 tons of wheat, the first installment of 500,000 tonsin promised U.S. aid that will be distributed by the UN.
The U.S. aid was not directly related to the ongoing nuclear talksbetween Washington and Pyongyang, and U.S. officials haverepeatedly claimed they do not use food for diplomatic coercion.
Welcome support: World Food Program, food aid supplied by theUnited States is unloaded from a vessel at Nampo port Enlarge
Blast: The demolition of the 60ft cooling tower at North Korea'sreactor complex in Yongbyon on Friday
But the shipment arrived just days after the North delivered along-delayed atomic declaration and blew up the cooling tower atits main reactor site.

In exchange, Washington has lifted some economic sanctions againstthe North and said it would remove the country from a U.S. StateDepartment list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The North's government agreed to the new aid program Friday, WFPspokesman Paul Risley said. That was the same day Pyongyang blew upthe reactor tower following the U.S. concessions.
The American food supplies will help the WFP expand its operationsto feed more than 5 million people, up from the current 1.2 millionNorth Koreans getting help from outside handouts, the organizationsaid in a statement.
The increased aid comes as the WFP and other groups have expressedincreasingly dire warnings about the food situation in the North. Enlarge
Fury: Protesters use ropes to move a police bus placed to blocktheir march on the road leading to the presidential house
The country's regular annual shortages were expected to worsen thisyear because of floods last summer that decimated the North'sagricultural heartland.

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization has said North Korea'scereal crop will fall more than 1.5 million tons short this year,the largest food gap since 2001.
Prices at the country's few markets - where North Koreans who canafford it shop when public rations fall short - have skyrocketeddue to shortages.
The UN agencies are conducting a food survey expected to be readyin July to determine where to distribute the aid, but the WFP saidpreliminary reports "indicate a high level of food insecurity."
Risley said the WFP may have to request additional food donationsdepending on the results of that survey.
Meanwhile, South Korean police have detained more than 100 peoplefor violence at weekend rallies against a U.S. beef import deal,with tensions expected to rise this week when the product returnsto stores. Enlarge
Mission: Protesters clashed with police during an overnightdemonstration at the weekend
Soaking and angry: Police use water cannons on protesters who areusing ropes to move police buses placed to block them
Analysts said the prospect of prolonged protests means furtherdelays for President Lee Myung-bak's plans to implementpro-business reforms and will make overseas investors hesitatebefore putting their money into Asia's fourth-largest economy.
"I think that foreign investors will become a little more scepticalabout the future of the Korean economy," said Yun Chang-hyun, aprofessor of finance at the University of Seoul.
South Korea and U.S trade officials said about a week ago they hadreworked a beef import deal first struck in April which sparkedmass street protests, caused Lee's support rate to plummet and ledto a crisis for his four-month-old government.
Last week, South Korea started processing the first batch of U.S.beef to enter the country under new quarantine rules designed toallay Korean fears of mad cow disease by limiting imports to beeffrom younger cattle and prohibiting risky parts.
Older cattle are considered more at risk of the disease.
"U.S. beef sales will resume this week and we plan to offer it ataround a 30 percent discount to promote sales," said ParkChang-kyu, head of beef importer A-Meat and a meat importers'association.
U.S. beef, banned for about three years after an outbreak of madcow disease in the country in late 2003, returned to South Korealast year but was later banned after prohibited material was found.Australian beef has now become the main meat import.
Beef about beef: A protester uses a plastic container to shelterhimself as police used water cannons on them
When U.S. beef returns to South Korea for the first time in aboutnine months, it is expected to sell for about half the cost ofsimilar cuts of Korean beef, even before discounts.
Quarantine checks that started last week on some 5,300 tonnes ofU.S. beef frozen in storage in South Korea since October have beendelayed by militant trade union members who blocked trucks leavingwarehouses.
A survey published on Monday in the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said 57per cent of respondents thought it was time to end the rallies,which began in opposition to U.S. beef and later became a lightningrod for protests against President Lee.
Demonstrations at the weekend left hundreds injured as protesterssmashed police buses and attacked conscripted riot policemen, whotried to turn back the crowds with clubs, shields and high pressurewater cannons.
Police said they are questioning 130 protesters taken in at theweekend and also raided the offices of rally organisers at dawn onMonday.
Nine people have been formally arrested since late May for violenceat the protests, police said.
Lee, who scored a landslide in a December election, has called fora crackdown on violent protests.