U.S. to offer $12 mln in grants to prevent proliferation of N. Korean WMD

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. State Department seeks to provide up to US$12 million in grants to entities working to implement U.N. sanctions on North Korea and prevent weapons proliferation by the reclusive state, a public post showed Friday.

"While the United States continues to seek negotiations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to reach the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, it maintains the policy that international pressure and sanctions must remain in force until the DPRK fully denuclearizes," said the notice posted by the department's Bureau of International Security-Nonproliferation at a website for U.S. government grants.

DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

It added the department "supports the pressure campaign against the DPRK by training partners to implement United Nations Security Council Resolutions constraining the DPRK's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation, to detect and halt DPRK-linked sanctions evasion activities, and to impede the DPRK's material and financial activities that fund the development of WMD and related delivery systems."

The announcement, posted Thursday, says grants will be available to both domestic and international organizations, and that eligible applicants include both non-for-profit and for-profit organizations, as well as public and private educational institutions.

The department said it expected about 30 organizations to be awarded grants under its International Security-Nonproliferation program, with each winner given a minimum of $50,000 and maximum of $250,000.

All applications for grants must be submitted by the end of January.

North Korea has stayed away from denuclearization negotiations since 2019, and is ignoring overtures for dialogue from the Joe Biden administration that came into office in January.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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