North Korea warns US humanitarian assistance is a ‘sinister scheme’

North Korea has accused the US of using humanitarian assistance as a tool for interfering in its internal affairs, blighting international attempts to deliver coronavirus vaccines and food aid to the nuclear-armed state.

An article published by the North Korean foreign ministry on Monday described humanitarian aid as a “sinister scheme” to put pressure on Pyongyang.

International groups including the Red Cross and the World Health Organization as well as foreign diplomats and health experts have struggled to gain access to the isolated country after Kim Jong Un instituted tough border controls as coronavirus spread from China last January.

The sweeping restrictions have sparked warnings from the South Korean government and aid groups over worsening food security and economic hardship in North Korea.

Kim Jong Un last month punished top cadres over a “grave incident” linked to the pandemic, stoking fears of an outbreak in the impoverished country.

The US, under President Joe Biden, has signalled that expanded humanitarian assistance to North Korea would be allowed despite tough international sanctions.

However, the foreign ministry blasted Washington for tying aid deliveries in the past to political changes in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine and Cambodia.

“Many countries are left with ‘bitter tastes’ as a result of pinning much hope on the American ‘aid’ and ‘humanitarian assistance’,” wrote Kang Hyon-chol, a senior researcher in the foreign ministry’s Association for the Promotion of International Economic and Technological Exchange.

“This vividly reveals that the American ulterior intention of linking ‘humanitarian assistance’ with ‘human rights issue’ is to legitimise their pressure on the sovereign states and achieve their sinister political scheme,” he added.

Rachel Lee, a former US government North Korea analyst, said the article was consistent with Pyongyang’s “ongoing self-reliance campaign”.

“That said, North Korea can always change its position depending on the offer it receives. It has yet to issue an official position on foreign vaccine aid,” said Lee, a non-resident fellow with the 38 North programme at the Stimson Center think-tank.

North Korea has access to millions of doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines via the Covax programme under Gavi, a UN-backed alliance.

But foreign experts have been unable to enter North Korea to assess the country’s distribution networks, a crucial step needed for the delivery of jabs through Covax.

According to a report by the Institute for National Security Strategy, a South Korean think-tank, the planned Covax shipments have been slowed by North Korean concerns over side-effects from the AstraZeneca jabs.

The INSS added that the regime was hesitant about receiving vaccines from China, its closest ally and economic lifeline.

While North Korean officials appeared concerned over the efficacy of China-made vaccines, they “appear to have positive assessments” of Russian jabs and had asked for free supplies, the institute said.

Critics have noted that rather than accept international assistance, Kim has continued to develop nuclear weapons. Many also doubted Pyongyang’s claims of zero coronavirus infections.

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