New York, Sept. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- The Democratic People's Republicof Korea (DPRK) has requested the United Nations to end humanitarian assistance by the end of this year, Choe Su Hon, Deputy Foreign Minister of the DPRK, announced Thursday.

    Choe, who is here attending the 60th session of the UN General Assembly, said that he had made the request to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at a meeting on Wednesday, saying that a betterharvest had improved the humanitarian situation in the DPRK.

    The DPRK government can provide food to its people, he told reporters at the DPRK's mission to the United Nations, adding that the Secretary-General expressed his full understanding on the issue.

    Meanwhile, he criticized the United States tried to politicize humanitarian assistance, linking it to the human rights issue. Enditem