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North Korea dismisses US aid as ‘sinister political scheme’

Monday, 12 July 2021 10:06 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 12 July 2021 10:34 AM ]

Workers disinfecting a freight train in Sinuiju, North Korea, on the Chinese border, in March 2020 as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. (Photo by KCNA Via AFP)

The United States uses its international aid programs to achieve its “sinister political scheme” by putting pressure on the recipient countries, according to a senior North Korean researcher.

Kang Hyon Chol from the Association for the Promotion of International Economic and Technological Exchange, which is linked to the country's foreign ministry, made the case in an article published on the ministry's official website on Sunday.

Kang pointed out that many countries have been increasingly disappointed after getting hooked on US aid programs.

"In actual practice, many countries have undergone bitter tastes as a result of pinning much hope on the American 'aid' and 'humanitarian assistance,'" Kang said.

The North Korean researcher said the hidden purpose of offering aid and humanitarian assistance by the Americans is to "achieve their sinister political scheme" and get advantages for the US government in return.

"This vividly reveals that the American ulterior intention of linking 'humanitarian assistance' with 'human rights issue' is to legitimize their pressure on the sovereign states and achieve their sinister political scheme," he added.

The researcher cautioned that the social and economic situation spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic across the world has created a new opportunity for the US to attempt to abuse the suffering and pain for "sinister political purposes."

The United States has said it was ready to extend humanitarian aid to North Korea but that no efforts were underway to provide direct assistance.

North Korea has shown no public sign of interest in aid from the United States, or its regional allies South Korea and Japan.