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State Department spokesman Robert Wood has reported that North Korea has refused American food aid indefinitely. North Korea relies almost entirely on aid to feed 23 million of its people, ever since a combination of poor agricultural planning and natural disaster crippled the small communist nations ability to support itself.

This comes after weeks of tension after the North Korean government announced its intentions to launch a satellite, many in the international community presume this is a cover to test intercontinental ballistic missile technology. North Korea only agitated the situation by making threats against civilian aircraft and war against both South Korea and the United States. The US and the six-nation negotiating team which is attempting to work with North Korea to dissemble its nuclear program have come to a stand still and North Korea continues to become more militant. Woods comments on the issue were reassuring, “This humanitarian assistance that we provide to the North has nothing to do with the six-party talks. This is about our true humanitarian concern for these people.”

From January 2008 to February 2009, the United States delivered 169, 000 metric tonnes of food aid to North Korea. This however is not the first time that North Korea has gone without American aid. From 2005 to 2007 Washington sent no food aid to the North Korean people. Amidst rising tensions between the two nations, it may be of interest for Pyongyang to avoid American influence, and prevent Washington from gaining leverage when it opposes many of North Korea’s ambitions. On the matter US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continued to play slap-and-tickle with the international community by calling the North Korean government a, “tyranny,” but stated that America would be open to diplomatic talks.

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