N.Korea says asked U.N. to end food aid

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – North Korea said on Thursday it
had asked the United Nations to end food aid because the
reclusive communist country’s food production had improved and
the United States was politicizing the issue.

North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon told news
agency reporters he had made the request to U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan at a meeting on Wednesday, saying
a better harvest had eased the humanitarian situation.

“We requested him to end humanitarian assistance by the end
of this year,” he said. “Particularly the United States
attempted to politicize humanitarian assistance, linking it to
the human rights issue.”