North Korea closed its borders in January 2020 to fend off the coronavirus. Amid the deepening food crisis, Tomás Ojea Quintana, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, called on the U.N. Security Council to consider easing sanctions on North Korea that affect humanitarian conditions. Border shutdown a challengeExperts said the biggest barrier to getting humanitarian aid to North Korea is the nation's border shutdown. Jerome Sauvage, the U.N. resident coordinator in North Korea from November 2009 to January 2013, agrees that North Korea needs to reopen its borders but believes easing sanctions could help. North Korea dismissed U.S. efforts to provide humanitarian aid in July, calling it a "sinister political scheme."

Source: The North Africa Journal November 10, 2021 03:33 UTC