The U.N. special adviser on North Korea, Maurice Strong, has deferred all new assignments until allegations brought against him were cleared by an investigation on corruption charges in the U.N.-led oil-for-food programme, a spokesman said Wednesday. Strong, a Canadian businessman, acted as an adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on North Korea nuclear issues and made several trips to Pyongyang in past years. But his business relationship with a South Korean lobbyist in the early 1990s became questionable because of the Korean's alleged ties with the former Saddam Hussein regime. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Annan had accepted Strong's request not to be given further assignments until his name was cleared by the investigation in the oil-for-food programme being conducted by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker. "He no longer works for us," said Dujarric. Strong, 75, was not a full-time U.N. adviser, and was paid only when on assignments. He was alleged to have entered into business deals with South Korean Tongsun Park, who invested in Strong's energy company in Canada in 1997. Strong was appointed special adviser on North Korea in 1997 and apparently continued to maintain ties with Tongsun Park. --More 2232 Local Time 1932 GMT
