State Dept. Disputes N. Korean Diversion

State Department spokesman James P. Rubin took issue with a congressional team’s contention that U.S. food assistance was going to North Korean soldiers. “As far as we are able to judge, nearly all our assistance thus far has been directed at helping young children,” he said. Rubin was responding to an accusation leveled by seven members of Congress who visited North Korea over the weekend. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Torrance) told a news conference in Seoul on Wednesday: “I believe we would all agree that some food aid has probably ended up in the hands of the military and the other elites in the country.”