DATE=10/27/1999 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=CONGRESS/NORTH KOREA AID (L ONLY) NUMBER=2-255532 BYLINE=PAULA WOLFSON DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: A new report on American aid to North Korea is creating controversy in the U-S Congress. The report was compiled by a team of government auditors without political ties. But as V-O-A's Paula Wolfson tells us, it has ignited a partisan debate in the House of Representatives. TEXT: The General Accounting Office regularly researches issues for Congress. The G-A-O staff usually gets high praise for its independent analysis. But the reviews of its report on aid to North Korea are mixed at best. The report says the North Korean government has too many constraints on shipments of U-S aid, which enter the country through the U-N's World Food Program. The researchers stress monitoring is insufficient, and it is difficult to account for aid shipments once they reach North Korea. Benjamin Nelson led the research team. /// NELSON ACT /// The W-F-P under current conditions cannot provide assurance that the food is being stored and used as planned. /// END ACT /// The study was requested by the Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Republican Benjamin Gilman of New York. Mr. Gilman - a strong critic of the Clinton Administration's Korea policy - embraced the findings. /// GILMAN ACT /// North Korea continues to hold out one hand for aid, while in the other hand it holds a gun. This has resulted in a very successful cycle of political blackmail and extortion within the international community. ///END ACT/// But the report angered Tony Hall. The usually mild- mannered Democrat from Ohio is known as the strongest advocate of food aid in Congress. He was so concerned about the General Accounting Office study that he requested an appearance before the (International Relations) Committee to present his own views. /// FIRST HALL ACT /// Their report is biased. It is not accurate. /// END ACT /// Mr. Hall has traveled to North Korea five times in the last three years. He said food is getting to those in need. And he made clear he fears the G-A-O report will push Congress to put restrictions on the aid program. /// SECOND HALL ACT /// If conditions in North Korea or any desperate place were perfect enough to get the G-A-O seal of approval, there would be no famine there in the first place. It's never open and transparent societies that are the ones in trouble. They can always feed themselves. It's other places like Ethiopia and Somalia and North Korea and Sudan. /// END ACT /// Congressman Hall said the G-A-O report is based on second hand information, and the researchers never traveled to North Korea for a personal look at the situation. The G-A-O's Benjamin Nelson said they applied for visas, but were turned down by the North Korean government. (Signed) NEB/PW/LTD/gm 27-Oct-1999 13:51 PM EDT (27-Oct-1999 1751 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
