Press Releases
Speaker meets with Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP)
- Oct 02, 2024
- 51
Speaker Woo Won-shik meets with Cindy McCain,
Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP)
- Speaker Woo requests attention to humanitarian aid to North Korea, pledging the National Assembly’s
support for bolstering ROK-WFP cooperation
- Executive Director McCain expresses gratitude for the ROK’s contributions and expertise, pledging efforts
to resume projects for North Korea
The Speaker of the Republic of Korea’s National Assembly Woo Won-shik met on July 30 with Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian organization providing more than 60 percent of global food aid with the aim of eradicating hunger.
Speaker Woo welcomed McCain on her first visit to Korea since assuming her position and praised the WFP on its efforts on global food security.
“The assistance the Republic of Korea received from the WFP and the international community during its post-war period laid the foundation for the blossoming of democracy and a market economy,” he said. “Korea as the world’s 10th largest economy, is expanding its grant aid by 40 percent this year to demonstrate a greater sense of responsibility for bigger contributions to the international community.”
Speaker Woo then expressed his commitment to supporting stronger ROK-WFP cooperation at the parliamentary level through channels such as the rice aid program, while asking for Director McCain’s interest and support in expanding Korean participation in the WFP.
In response, McCain expressed gratitude to Korea for its continued contributions and expertise to the WFP and requested its continued role in addressing the global food crisis and hunger issues.
Referring to the situation in North Korea, Woo and McCain shared concerns about the suspension of WFP operations in the North due to the withdrawals of WFP staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. Woo urged the WFP to focus on humanitarian aid to improve the human rights of North Korean citizens. In turn, McCain pledged the organization’s determined efforts to resume its operations, such as through negotiations with North Korean authorities.
Meeting attendees from the WFP included Park Kyeong-ran, director for emergency operations; and Han Seok-jin, acting director of the Korea office. From the Korean side, attendees included Jo O-seop, Chief of Staff to the Speaker; Park Tae-seo, Senior Secretary for Public Relations to the Speaker; Jeong Woon-jin, Ambassadorial Advisor to the Speaker for Foreign Affairs; and Koo Hyun-woo, Director General of the International Affairs and Protocol Bureau.
<End>
