N. Korea Military, Elite May Have Diverted Food Aid

North Korea’s military and government elite may have siphoned off some of the foreign food aid intended for its starving citizens, a U.S. congressional delegation said in South Korea on Wednesday.

Rep. Jane Harman (D-Torrance) and six other members of the House Select Committee on Intelligence visited Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, over the weekend and met North Korean officials.

Because of North Korea’s government-run food distribution system, it would be easy to divert to the army some of the foreign food from those who need it, Harman said.

“I believe that we would all agree that some food aid has probably ended up in the hands of the military and the other elite in the country,” Harman told reporters. But she added that international aid workers had confirmed that “some food” is reaching the people who need it most.

In spite of repeated requests, the group was not allowed to visit a distribution center, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said.

The U.S. delegation told the North Koreans that “we are not fools, and that we wanted the food to go to the people,” Pelosi said.

International aid groups say millions of North Koreans face starvation before the fall unless they receive outside assistance. Two years of floods and droughts have destroyed North Korea’s crops.

Many suspect that the North’s 1.1-million-member army is the first to get food because of its role as the backbone of the Communist regime.