European banks stop sending money to North Korea: Aid groups

BEIJING (REUTERS) - European aid groups said their banks in Europe had stopped sending money to North Korea in the wake of United States (US) sanctions on Pyongyang's main foreign exchange bank, leaving them scrambling for a solution short of hand-carrying cash into the impoverished country.

Aid groups said if it became impossible to send enough money to operate, donors might withdraw support for their programmes.

"This could eventually reduce our ability to carry out projects or even force a complete close down," Mr Mathias Mogge, director of programmes for German aid group Welthungerhilfe, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"If all the agencies had to pull out, it would affect millions of people," said Mr Mogge, who has just returned from the reclusive state.