International aid agencies and UN workers have complained that the North Korean government is obstructing their efforts to help the famine-stricken people. As a result, Oxfam (GB) has already pulled out of the country.
They have agreed an as yet unpublished but unprecedented statement in which they charge that the regime in Pyongyang, one of the most secretive, old-style communist governments in the world, is preventing them from confirming that aid is reaching the people for whom it is intended.
The move by the agencies comes after years of submissively enduring obstructions by North Korean officials.
The last straw came for Oxfam last week when it felt it could not complete its water-purification programme because of the attitude of Pyongyang officials.
An Oxfam official confirmed yesterday that its team of five aid workers left North Korea last weekend. "We pulled out the staff and closed down the programme with real regret. It was a painful decision but it was a long time coming. It became impossible for us to assess whether we were being effective. There were too many restrictions on our work."
The Irish agency Concern Worldwide signed the statement, but said night it had no intention of leaving. However, its deputy director, Mr Paddy McGuinness, said that Concern "will keep everything under review".