U.S. donates another 60,000 metric tons of food aid to North Korea

U.S. donates another 60,000 metric tons of food aid to North Korea    The United States will donate another 60,000 metric tons of food aid to North Korea, boosting its overall 2003 donations to the communist country to 100,000 metric tons.
   The food aid will be managed through the World Food Program, which made the appeal to the United States.
   “We are committed to providing our fair share in response to the World Food Program’s appeals on purely humanitarian grounds and without linkage to our concerns regarding North Korea’s policies,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher in a statement.
   According to the World Food Program, more than 70,000 North Korean children suffer from severe malnutrition and about 30 percent of pregnant and nursing women are malnourished.
   Funding for the donation will come from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s PL-480 program. “The mix of commodities for the donation will be determined soon in consultation with the World Food Program,” Boucher said.
   The U.S. government will respond to the World Food Program’s 2004 appeal at a later time, he added.