UNDP to Return to North Korea Next Year

The head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) told a press conference yesterday that she expects the UNDP program in North Korea to be up and running again some time next year.

The organization’s office in Pyongyang closed in 2007 after 26 years spent assisting the North in fields such as agricultural and human resource development. It was closed following accusations of malpractice by the U.S.

Clark, a former Prime Minister of New Zealand, was in Seoul yesterday to sign two agreements with the South Korean government. Speaking at a press conference following a signing ceremony with Minister Yu Myung Hwan, she told reporters about the plan for the North Korea office, “The consensus of the executive board was that the office should reopen. It’s reopening with a small program; around $2.5 million a year and a very small number of employees.”

The UNDP plans to start with six development programs in the North, mostly revolving around sustainability in terms of energy and livelihoods.

Speaking about the reasons for the closure, Clark said they have been addressed, “They were fully investigated, there was not a shred of truth in them and they caused a lot of distress to the organization at that time, leading to the closure of the office.”

At the time, the U.S.’ mission to the UN made allegations of irregularities in the UNDP’s North Korea program, which Secretary General Ban Ki Moon ordered to be investigated. It was subsequently discovered that failings, such as there were, were largely the result of practices inflicted on the UNDP by the North Korean government, and when the North refused to implement demanded changes, the UNDP office had no choice but to close. All other charges laid by the U.S. government were rejected.

However, according to Clark, “Those issues have been totally resolved; that’s why the executive board has agreed that the office should reopen. Of course, it will be reopened in a responsible way with the appropriate checks and balances in place.”

Clark also promised that UNDP activities would not contravene UN sanctions already in place.

Christopher Green is a researcher in Korean Studies based at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Chris has published widely on North Korean political messaging strategies, contemporary South Korean broadcast media, and the socio-politics of Korean peninsula migration. He is the former Manager of International Affairs for Daily NK. His X handle is: @Dest_Pyongyang.