FAO chief discusses food security, nutrition in rare visit to N. Korea

The head of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has visited North Korea for talks on food security and nutrition, the U.N. agency said, marking the first visit by a ranking U.N. official to the North since its COVID-19-related border closure in 2020. FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu made a four-day visit to North Korea from Saturday to Tuesday, becoming the first U.N. specialized agency principal to enter the country since the outbreak of the pandemic, FAO said in a release uploaded on its website on Wednesday. "The visit aimed to reactivate and strengthen the partnership between FAO and DPRK in addressing food security and nutrition challenges in the wake of the post COVID-19 pandemic, as well as enhancing the resilience and sustainability of agrifood systems in the country," it said, referring to the North by its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. During his visit, Qu underscored FAO's readiness to provide more expertise and support for food and agriculture issues and visited t he Kangdong Greenhouse Complex and the FAO-sponsored Pyongchon Fish Farm, according to FAO. The U.N. agency called Qu's visit a "milestone" in its ties with the North and said it "demonstrated the mutual trust and respect between the two sides, and opened new avenues for engagement, cooperation and dialogue in the future." Qu's latest trip garners attention over whether North Korea will further allow U.N. officials to return to the secretive regime for humanitarian projects. U.N. personnel stationed in North Korea pulled out of the country with the North's border closure imposed in January 2020 over COVID-19. North Korea began resuming exchanges with China and Russia in a limited manner after partially opening its border in August last year. Pyongyang's state media have yet to report on Qu's visit. Source: Yonhap News Agency