Summary of external news of North Korea this week

SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news of North Korea this week.

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Pentagon says too early to fully restore U.S.-S. Korea military drills

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Yonhap) -- It is still too early to resume all military exercises between South Korea and the United States in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the Pentagon said Friday.

The allies postponed their springtime combined military exercises slated for March amid growing concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in South Korea.

U.S. Forces Korea said Friday it is maintaining current restrictions on service members' off-post activities following an increase in new infections in the country.

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N. Korea among 47 countries facing food shortages due to global pandemic: U.N. agency

SEOUL, May 19 (Yonhap) -- Around 183 million people in 47 countries, including North Korea, are facing the possibility of severe food insecurity as border closures and disruptions in global supply chains have restricted their access to farming products, a U.N. food agency said.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also estimated in the report that around US$350 million will be needed this year to provide necessary assistance to those countries facing a looming crisis.

"While the COVID-19 pandemic is devastating lives, public health systems, livelihoods and economies across the world, populations living in food crisis contexts and those whose resilience has been eroded by previous crises are particularly exposed to its effects," the report said.

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U.N. raises US$1.3 mln to aid N. Korea's antivirus fight

SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- The United Nations has raised US$1.3 million to provide assistance for North Korea's efforts to prevent the outbreak of the new coronavirus, a U.N. report showed Friday.

The fund, whose latest tally was as of Wednesday, represented some 3 percent of $39.7 million estimated to be required to support the North's antivirus efforts, according to the report by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The report said some $900,000 in aid was sent to support North Korea's fight against COVID-19.
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