UN agency cites improvements in North Korea's food security; experts still cautious

washington — The head of the United Nations agency responsible for alleviating world hunger is heaping praise on the government of North Korea after a breakthrough visit to the reclusive country, the first from any official of a U.N. specialized agency since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.

Qu Dongyu, director general of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), "commended the great achievement made by the DPRK people in agricultural development, food security and the Pyongyang city under the leadership of H.E. Kim Jong Un," said a statement the agency issued Wednesday.

The assessment stands in sharp contrast with the view of most independent experts, who say North Korea — officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea — remains far from able to feed its own people.

The FAO noted in its own report on July 5 that the country's food security situation was "expected to remain fragile, amid persistent weak economic growth."

Some analysts told VOA they believed Qu's praise was intended simply to keep the door open for future visits.

North Korea reopened its borders in August 2023, easing draconian pandemic measures put in place in 2020 that stopped virtually all cross-border activities, including humanitarian aid.

Pyongyang has since allowed some countries such as China, Russia, Mongolia and Cuba to resume their diplomatic presence but has not allowed international aid workers into the country to work there.

A spokesperson for the FAO's regional office for Asia and the Pacific told VOA's Korean Service on Thursday that FAO has an office in North Korea with local staff working on projects that never ceased, but "there are no international staff in the country since COVID-19 border closures."

In a separate statement provided to VOA on Thursday, an FAO spokesperson at its headquarters in Rome wrote that the FAO was "ready to provide more technical expertise and global experience in different areas and encourages the government [of North Korea] to explore new opportunities for collaboration and resource mobilization, together with FAO, for the vulnerable people most in need."

Qu's visit included a tour of North Korea's Kangdong Greenhouse Complex and Central Institute for Vegetables as well as the FAO-sponsored Pyongchon Fish Farm, according to the statement.

North Korea announced the opening of the Kangdong Greenhouse Complex in the outskirts of Pyongyang in March, releasing the pictures of leader Kim Jong Un visiting the complex. It comprises more than 1,050 buildings spread over 260 hectares, according to the Pyongyang Times.

'Political statement'

William Brown, a former CIA analyst who closely monitors North Korea's economy, said he believed Qu, who is Chinese, made the remarks flattering North Korea's authoritarian leader as "a political statement designed to get him back to Pyongyang."

In reality, Brown said, "so many people in North Korea are going hungry even as we speak," even though about a third of the population are farmers.

Pointing out a picture of Qu and Chinese Ambassador Wang Yajun taken in Pyongyang on Sunday and released by the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang on Monday, Brown said it was odd that no North Korean official was shown in the photo.

The Chinese "may be trying to throw a counterpunch to the Russians in a mild way of saying, 'We're here too,' " Brown said.

Growing ties between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin, especially after their meeting in Pyongyang in June, are believed by analysts to be making China uncomfortable.

In Pyongyang, Qu thanked China for the long-term food support it has provided to North Korea, according to a statement by the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang. China has long been the largest food aid provider to North Korea.

Bradley Babson, a former World Bank adviser and an advisory council member of the Korea Economic Institute of America, said, "It's not surprising to me that there were over-the-top compliments," because the FAO wants to "reestablish a relationship."

Babson continued, "If FAO goes back" into North Korea and works there, it'll be "a good thing."

Jerome Sauvage, who served as the U.N. resident coordinator in North Korea from November 2009 to 2013, said the visit suggested North Korea was still not willing to accept humanitarian aid but would take development aid. The FAO is "not a humanitarian organization that delivers urgent aid," he pointed out.

"North Korea will probably discuss on a case-by-case basis which organizations come to help them with development and technical cooperation, instead of just humanitarian aid," he said.

Ready to resume aid

Other aid organizations say they are eager to resume their work in North Korea.

Chiara Frisone, communication specialist for UNICEF's regional office for East Asia and the Pacific, told VOA on Thursday that it was "ready to resume its regular activities" in the country and urged North Korea "to facilitate the earliest possible return."

UNICEF announced the same day that in partnership with GAVI, the vaccine alliance, and the World Health Organization, it has delivered three vital consignments of vaccines to North Korea that can immunize more than 600,000 children and pregnant women who have not received vaccines since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Steve Taravella, a senior spokesperson for the World Food Program, told VOA on Thursday that "we hope that the visit by the director-general of FAO will lead to greater information about changes to food security in DPRK since the pandemic and pave the way to resumption of access and activities."