wfn.org | N. Korea Staff Interview Opportunity

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

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

63NCC7/1/98                 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES JULY 6-10 WITH ONE OF THE FEW NORTH 
AMERICANS WITH EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE OF 
NORTH KOREA'S FAMINE

 NEW YORK, July 1 ---- 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 will be in New York City and Washington, D.C. 
(July 6-10), 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) 
offices 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.  He is 
on a brief "home leave" during which he will spend July 6-
10 in New York City and Washington, D.C., in meetings with 
U.S. government officials, media and churches before 
returning to North Korea.

 Mr. Weingartner chairs the interagency forum (CWS 
being the lead agency) in Pyongyang, trains World Food 
Programme monitors and travels extensively - and, in recent 
months, independently - 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 for the 
World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland.

His expenses in Pyongyang are paid by a coalition of 
agencies, including CWS and Action by Churches Together 
(ACT), World Vision, Caritas International, Canadian Food 
Grains Bank, Food for the Hungry and Mercycorps 
International.

MR. WEINGARTNER'S MEDIA AVAILABILITY

MONDAY, July 6, and FRIDAY, July 10 - NEW YORK CITY ONLY
Daytime -- Contact NCC News Department to request 
individual interviews
7 p.m. Monday, July 6 - Dinner meeting with Korean church 
leaders, Flushing, N.Y., exact location TBA

TUESDAY, July 7 - A.M. -- NEW YORK/P.M. -- WASHINGTON, 
D.C.
10 a.m. - News Conference, Church Center for the United 
Nations, 777 U.N. Plaza, 12th Floor, New York City.
Contact NCC News Department to request individual 
interviews

WEDNESDAY, July 8, and THURSDAY, July 9 - WASHINGTON, 
D.C., ONLY
Contact NCC News Department to request individual 
interviews

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