Sanctions disrupt aid agencies in NKorea

PYONGYANG: Ramped-up international sanctions on North Korea have inadvertently disrupted the already challenging work of aid agencies there, those in the field say, with risk-averse banks refusing to transfer funds needed to keep operations running.

Aid shipments have also been held up or blocked indefinitely at Chinese customs in confusion over what is covered by the significantly upgraded UN sanctions imposed in March following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test earlier in the year.