Swiss foreign aid to DPRK

From Yonhap:

Swiss aid for North Korea totals US$4.2 million last year

Switzerland gave over 5.2 million Swiss francs (US$4.2 million) worth of relief aid to North Korea in 2005, a U.S. radio station reported Thursday.

The Washington-based Radio Free Asia based its report on documents from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.

Agriculture was the top priority in the Swiss aid, with about 1.7 million francs spent only on the extermination of vermin and the introduction of new breeds, the report said.

The two Swiss government agencies said the rest of the money went to non-agriculture sectors, including 900,000 francs for administrative management, 300,000 francs for social overhead capital facilities, 1.1 million francs for economic development, 700,000 francs for humanitarian aid and 500,000 francs for others, it said.

With its economy in tatters, North Korea has been relying on international handouts since the mid-1990s to help feed its 23 million people.

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