http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/S_Korea_and_U_S_spar_over_N_Korea_human_rights.html?siteSect=143&sid=6675969&cKey=1146546515000SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea has accused the U.S. special envoy for human rights in North Korea of being biased and ill-informed about how Seoul dispenses humanitarian aid in the communist state.
The unusually blunt comments about its closest military ally could strain ties with Washington. The Bush administration has paid close attention to Pyongyang's human rights record, with George W. Bush meeting North Korean refugees in the Oval Office.
In an article in the Wall Street Journal last week, U.S. special envoy Jay Lefkowitz said well-intentioned projects should be backed by strong monitoring to avoid being counterproductive.
"By channelling large amounts of unmonitored aid to North Korea, some governments may actually worsen matters and unwittingly prop up the regime," he wrote.
South Korea, which favours quiet diplomacy and engagement with the North, is a major supplier of aid to North Korea, sending huge amounts of rice to the North, which has trouble producing enough food to feed its own people.