FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 19, 2008

Contact: Joy Portella, +1.206.437.7885, jportella@sea.mercycorps.org

March 19, 2009 — The following is a statement issued by the NGO Partners that have been distributing food aid in the DPRK through a program supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The NGO Partnership is led by Mercy Corps, co-led by World Vision, and includes Christian Friends of Korea, Global Resource Services and Samaritan's Purse:

This week, North Korean authorities have asked us to close the USAID-supported food assistance program that we have been operating since June 2008. Our joint team, dedicated to this program, will leave the DPRK by the end of March.

We are saddened by this decision, but are very proud of what the program has accomplished. Working closely with our North Korean partners, we have ensured that food reached almost one million vulnerable children, pregnant and nursing mothers, and the elderly.

Each of our organizations has worked in the DPRK for more than a decade. We remain committed to assistance in that country, and our individual, on-going programs focused on health, water, sanitation and agriculture will continue as before.

The NGO Food Assistance program is part of a larger 500,000-metric-ton initiative supported by USAID in which the World Food Program received 400,000 metric tons. The NGO Partners received 100,000 metric tons of food to distribute over twelve months in the two northwestern provinces of Chagang and North Pyongan. The NGOs have brought in 71,000 metric tons of food in the ten months of the program, benefiting more than 900,000 people.

This has been a model program with unparalleled monitoring cooperation to ensure that food gets to those most in need. Our in-country staff of 16 people has worked closely with our North Korean partners.

The NGO food assistance program was scheduled to run until the end of May 2009. Until the end of the month, we will work with our North Korean partners to ensure a proper closeout.

We remain committed to helping the people of the DPRK to overcome hunger and improve their lives. The food program resulted from tremendous humanitarian need in the DPRK. We will continue to work—as individual agencies and in cooperative partnerships—to address these needs. We hope the success of this program will serve as a model for the future.

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps helps people in the world's toughest places turn the crises of natural disaster, poverty, and conflict into opportunities for progress. Driven by local needs and market conditions, our programs provide communities with the tools and support they need to transform their own lives. Our worldwide team of 3,700 professionals is improving the lives of 14.5 million people in 37 countries. www.mercycorps.org.

About World Vision

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. We serve all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender. For more information, please visit www.worldvision.org.

About Samaritan's Purse

Samaritan's Purse provides immediate, no-red-tape response to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situations—especially in locations where few others are working. The organization is working in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, natural disaster, poverty, famine and persecution. For more information, please visit www.samaritanspurse.org.

About Global Resource Services

Global Resource Services is dedicated to going beyond charity to find real solutions to complex global crisis where peace and security are in jeopardy. Our mission is driven by an end vision of reconciliation. Relationships, respect and reconciliation are the common threads that empower our cause. For more information, please visit, www.grsworld.org.

About Christian Friends of Korea

Christian Friends of Korea (CFK) has been working since 1995 to bring hope and healing to the people of North Korea. To date, CFK's efforts to build trust and relationships and meet real human needs at tuberculosis and healthcare facilities have resulted in the delivery of over $35 million USD in humanitarian assistance to the DPRK. For more information, please visit www.cfk.org.