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Swordsmyth
12-19-2018, 08:53 PM
The Trump administration's special envoy for North Korea said Wednesday that Washington is reviewing easing its travel restrictions to North Korea to facilitate humanitarian shipments as part of efforts to resolve an impasse in nuclear diplomacy.Stephen Biegun made the comments upon arrival in South Korea for talks on the nuclear negotiations, which have seen little headway since a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June, when they issued a vague vow for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without describing how or when it would occur.
Biegun said his discussions with South Korean officials will be about how to work together to engage with North Korea "in a manner that will help us move forward and move beyond the 70 years of hostility."
Toward that end, Biegun said he was directed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to review America's policy on humanitarian assistance provided to North Korea.
"I understand that many humanitarian aid organizations, operating in the DPRK, are concerned that strict enforcement of international sanctions has occasionally impeded the delivery of legitimate humanitarian assistance to the Korean people," Biegun said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
He said he'll sit down with American aid groups early in the new year to discuss how the U.S. government can "better ensure the delivery of appropriate assistance, particularly, through the course of the coming winter."
"We will also review American citizen travel to DPRK for purposes of facilitating the delivery of aid and ensuring that monitoring in line with international standards can occur," Biegun said. "I want to be clear — the United States and the United Nations will continue to closely review requests for exemptions and licenses for the delivery of assistance to the DPRK."

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/official-says-us-reviewing-travel-ban-north-korea-101128287.html

Swordsmyth
12-20-2018, 11:49 PM
The United States and South Korea agreed to help provide antiviral flu medications to North Korea, Seoul's nuclear envoy said on Friday, after Washington said it would expedite humanitarian aid amid stalled nuclear talks with Pyongyang.The nuclear negotiators of the United States and South Korea held a meeting in Seoul of a working group they launched last month to boost policy coordination on North Korea.
They explored ways to improve the delivery of humanitarian aid, which relief groups say has been sharply limited by the United States' strict enforcement of international sanctions imposed because of the North's nuclear and missile programs, the envoys said.
Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, said on Wednesday he would meet U.S. aid groups early next year and review Washington's aid policy.
South Korea's envoy, Lee Do-hoon, said the United States agreed to support South Korea's plan to provide the flu drug Tamiflu to the North as part of the discussions.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/u-south-korea-agree-help-flu-drugs-north-051033161.html