North Korea Halts U.S. Grain Purchase

Despite severe food shortages and months of negotiations, North Korea backed out of a rare deal to buy wheat from the U.S. in exchange for zinc. As the grain was about to be delivered by freighter last week, North Korea’s Communist government told Cargill Inc. it would not follow through on a deal to trade 4,400 tons of zinc for 20,000 tons of wheat, according to Cargill spokeswoman Lori Johnson. She said the wheat was sold to another customer. Minneapolis-based Cargill sells, processes and distributes agricultural and other commodities. A collapsing post-Cold War economy and two consecutive years of flooding have aggravated chronic food shortages in North Korea. The U.S. has a trade embargo against North Korea but permits the sale of humanitarian items on a case-by-case basis.