FORMER PRESIDENT Mary Robinson will accompany ex-US president Jimmy Carter and other eminent retired leaders to North Korea this week to assess severe food shortages there and discuss denuclearisation and human rights.
The group also includes former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari and former Norwegian prime minister Gro Brundtland. All four are members of a group of retired world leaders called the “Elders” founded by former South African president Nelson Mandela.
The United Nations World Food Programme recently visited the country and said more than six million people, about a quarter of the population, urgently needed food aid.
Mr Carter, who is leading the Elders on the three-day visit, said he would like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, but so far such a meeting has not been announced. The trip was arranged at the invitation of top North Korean leaders, he said.
The North Korean government in Pyongyang is believed to be holding out for diplomatic concessions from Washington before committing to returning to six-nation talks, under which it has pledged to dismantle its nuclear weapons in return for food and fuel aid.
A key part of the mission would be assessing what damage sanctions related to the North’s nuclear programme had done to the country. Mrs Robinson said one-third of North Korea’s children had suffered stunted growth due to a lack of food, while up to 3.5 million people were vulnerable to the widening crisis that saw average food rations cut in half this year to 700 calories a day per person. “We believe it is very, very important to ensure that the women, children and the elderly do not suffer because of a political situation,” she said. “We will very much be emphasising this.”