Alexander De Croo, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at Seoul National University, May 22. Courtesy of UNDP
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) operated in North Korea for nearly three decades before a series of disruptions — fund diversion allegations, then the COVID-19 pandemic — forced it out. Now, the agency’s administrator says there is no immediate plan to return, but reopening remains possible if conditions on the ground change.
“If things change, we’ll have to look into it,” UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo told The Korea Times in Seoul last Friday. “We (currently) don’t have presence in North Korea. We used to have it, but we were asked to leave. As long as things don’t change, there’s no point for us to be there.”
The remarks came after South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed the U.N. body’s plan to resume operations in the North in the first half of this year. The administrator didn’t elaborate on the specifics, but it is known that the agency has been looking for ways to reenter the seclusive country for years.
The UNDP first opened an office in Pyongyang in 1980, becoming one of the earliest U.N. agencies to establish a presence in the country. It provided assistance across multiple sectors, including food supply and the environment, until operations were suspended in March 2007 amid allegations that funds had been diverted to the North Korean government.
