The United Nations (UN) has announced plans to send staff back to North Korea and prepare to resume its programs in the country.
The UN Development Coordination Office (DCO) made this statement on October 13 in response to written inquiries from Voice of America (VOA).
The UN Development Programme opened an office in Pyongyang in 1980 and has continued individual cooperation projects. In 1995, following a request from North Korea for international assistance due to severe flooding and food shortages, UN agencies began to establish a presence in Pyongyang, sending international staff to carry out humanitarian activities such as nutritional support and health improvements.
However, North Korea closed its borders in early 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, leading to the withdrawal of all UN international staff by early 2021, and they have not returned since. In July, UN Resident Coordinator Jo Colombo visited Pyongyang to discuss the possibility of resuming UN activities in North Korea with local authorities.
The DCO stated that an internal meeting of the UN Country Team (UNCT) for North Korea was held in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 1, as part of the preparations for their return, discussing priority areas for cooperation between North Korea and the UN.
During the meeting, Eleanor Francisco, Senior Regional Coordinator from the DCO's Asia-Pacific office, explained the potential roles the UN Country Team could play in North Korea.
The DCO emphasized that the overall priority for the UN Country Team is to facilitate the return of UN international staff to Pyongyang and to restart UN programs in North Korea, noting that future activities will be determined based on the mandates of each UN agency, international norms, standards, and relevant UN resolutions.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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