Russia donates 800 TONNES of flour to warmongering North Korea - despite strict sanctions
A TOTAL of 800 tonnes of wheat flour donated by Russia arrived at a North Korean port this week, it has been reported.
Citing the Facebook page of the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang, the Washington-based Radio Free Asia has said a Russian ship carrying the wheat flour arrived in North Korea’s port city of Chongjin on Monday.
North Korea is heavily sanctioned under UN resolutions for its nuclear and missile tests.
However, it is understood that the wheat flour has been provided through the UN’s World Food Programme.
The secretive state has been hurt financially by international sanctions that prohibit the sale of military equipment and luxury goods.
Despite this, the wheat flour donation is intended to be used to make dietary supplements for North Korea’s most vulnerable people, including children in the country’s Kangwon and Ryanggang provinces.
Earlier this year, a UN report revealed that roughly two in five North Koreans are undernourished.
The report also showed that more than 70% of the country’s population relies on food aid.
It has been estimated that 18 million people across the country continue to suffer from food insecurity and undernutrition as well as a lack of access to basic services.
The isolated nation has a population of approximately 25 million and has faced food shortages for several years.
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Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are believed to have died during a widespread famine in the 1990s.
Two-thirds of North Koreans still depend on food being distributed by the state.
For several months last year rations of items such as cereals and potatoes had been reduced from 380g per person per day to only 300g, according to the UN.