Question: I have a couple of questions. One, on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, you mentioned increased activity there by the UN in terms of relief. One report that’s being bandied about, and certainly there has been a lot of scrutiny now on stories that Pyongyang is trying to reinvigorate its nuclear programme. And it raises a question about some of the things that we’re reading on the blogs about UNDP and claims that UNDP is now trying to open up its office and operations in Pyongyang. Do you have any information on that? And then, I have a follow-up question. Spokesperson: I don’t have any additional information on that. But we can ask, of course, and you can talk to the UNDP people yourself directly. They can give you that information on whether or not they are planning to reopen. This information was about the activities of WFP strictly on the level of food security and food aid.
[The Spokesperson later relayed UNDP's categorical denial that a UNDP team chaired by Deputy Resident Representative Vineet Bhatia had arrived in Pyongyang in mid-August and had started the re-opening of the office. According to UNDP, “There is absolutely no truth to this. Vineet Bhatia has been in New York since December 2007, and there are no plans for UNDP to return to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea without an explicit green-light from its Executive Board.”]
seen at 12:00, 3 September
in
Spokesman for the UN Secretary General.
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