wfn.org | NCC-N. Korean Famine Response

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the 
U.S.A.
Contact:  NCC News Department at 212-870-2227
Internet:  news@ncccusa.org

65NCC7/7/98 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY: ONE OF THE FEW NORTH AMERICANS 
WITH EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE OF 
NORTH KOREA'S FAMINE
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ATTENTION WASHINGTON, D.C.,  DAYBOOK 
EDITORS/ASSIGNMENT DESKS:
4 P.M. THURSDAY, JULY 9, NEWS CONFERENCE -- Murrow 
Room, National Press Club, 14th & F Sts. N.W.  With 
Erich Weingartner, Non-Governmental Organization 
Liaison Officer, World Food Programme, Pyongyang, 
North Korea.  Contact NCC News, 212-870-2227 for 
more information and/or to request individual 
interviews.
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NEW YORK, July 7 ---- Three years to the month 
after devastating floods struck North Korea and 
unleashed a weather pattern that led to widespread 
famine, one of the few North Americans who has seen 
firsthand the effects of the famine is visiting New 
York City (July 6, 7 & 10) and Washington, D.C. 
(July 7-9), to report on the current conditions in 
North Korea.
Few, if any, North Americans have broader 
knowledge of the food crisis in North Korea than 
Erich Weingartner.  As NGO Liaison Officer in the 
World Food Programme (WFP) office in Pyongyang, 
North Korea, Mr. Weingartner also is the top expert 
on the distribution of aid from the international 
non-governmental community.
He reports, "Things are better for the target 
groups that WFP has been feeding, for instance, 
children under the age of six, but the rest of the 
population is showing extreme stress at this time of 
the year.  People continue to live very much on the 
edge and the situation could tip back over into 
famine at any time."
Mr. Weingartner, a Canadian, was nominated to 
the post by Church World Service, the humanitarian 
response ministry of the (U.S.) National Council of 
Churches. Mr. Weingartner is an officer of the 
interagency forum in Pyongyang, trains World Food 
Programme monitors and travels extensively - in 
country - to observe the food situation and 
distribution of donated aid.
A member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 
Canada, Mr. Weingartner is former Executive 
Secretary in the Commission of Churches on 
International Affairs, World Council of Churches, 
Geneva, Switzerland.  His expenses in Pyongyang are 
paid by a coalition of humanitarian agencies, CWS 
serving as the lead agency.  This week, during his 
brief "home leave" before returning to North Korea, 
Mr. Weingartner's appointments are to include the 
National Security Council, U.S. Institute for Peace, 
World Bank, Adventist Development and Relief Agency, 
US AID, U.S. State Department, InterAction, Church 
World Service/National Council of Churches, Korea 
Sharing Movement, and members of Congress.

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