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Sorry, Kids: Lacking Funding, UN Stops Food Delivery to 190,000 NK Children

© AP Photo / APTNFormer UN political chief B. Lynn Pascoe tours a food processing factory called "The Pyongyang Children Foodstuff Factory" where the World Food Program produces flour in Pyongyang
Former UN political chief B. Lynn Pascoe tours a food processing factory called The Pyongyang Children Foodstuff Factory where the World Food Program produces flour in Pyongyang - Sputnik International
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The United Nations World Food Program has stopped food deliveries to North Korea that served mostly hungry children. The decision comes amid rising tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program, though the body says the decision was all about money.

As more and more pressure is put on North Korea in the wake of its latest intercontinental ballistic missile test, the UN World Food Program announced it has stopped delivering food supplies to the state.

A view of the newly developed intercontinental ballistic rocket Hwasong-15's test that was successfully launched is seen in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang November 30, 2017 - Sputnik International
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Under normal circumstances, the recipients of UN Food Program aid are children of kindergarten age and pregnant and lactating women. Some 190,000 kindergarten children in North Korea were dependent on the deliveries that have just been halted, according to a report by Korea Times.

The international body claims that a lack of money has made the deliveries impossible. According to Lim Hyoung-joon, head of WFP Korea, the agency needs to collect a total $25.5 million to be able to provide food for children and other vulnerable groups in North Korea for the next six months. They've only got about half.

"We need an additional $14.6 million to reach the goal. Once we secure the money, WFP will provide the aid to those kindergarteners," Lim said.

According to Korea Times, the agency prioritizes pregnant women and children under the age of two ahead of children between two and five years of age. Since the agency could not secure the full sum, they decided to cut the aid for the older children.

Current WFP aid to North Korea is 66 grams of cereal to children under five and 132 grams of cereal to pregnant women daily in North Korea, the website reports.

In the meantime, UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman has traveled to North Korea to discuss "issues of mutual interest and concern," according to a UN statement. His schedule includes meetings with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, Vice Minister Pak Myong Guk and diplomats and UN staff, according to a report by The Telegraph.

"There are about 50 international staff working for six UN agencies in North Korea — the UN Development Program, the UN children's agency UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Food Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN Population Fund," the website reads.

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