hankyoreh

The U.S. House has introduced a resolution urging the United States to continue to withhold contributions to a U.N. agency accused of inadvertently funneling cash to the North Korean government, according to a congressional web site on Tuesday.

A resolution dated Feb. 8 calls on the secretary of state to suspend the U.S. contribution to the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), which in January was accused of mismanagement and a lack of oversight in its North Korea projects.

The UNDP allegedly violated rules by allowing the North Korean government to handpick local staff and paying salary and local vendors in cash. The issues became public after U.S. complaints, and Washington has already suspended financial donations to the body.

The UNDP suspended US$17.9 million in budgeted funds for its operations in North Korea pending the outcome of a 90-day probe and said it will stop paying workers with hard currency starting March 1.

The House resolution demands that local UNDP staff who violated regulations or committed crimes be appropriately sanctioned and prosecuted accordingly. It also calls for the suspension of U.S.

contributions to the U.N. agency pending a full audit of activities in North Korea since 1998 and until regulations are in place to ensure no UNDP funds are provided to the North Korean government.

In January, the House submitted a resolution asking the U.S. to withholding funding to the U.N. Human Rights Council, citing as one of the reasons its failure to condemn countries like North Korea for their flagrant human rights violations.

Washington, Feb. 20 (Yonhap News)