A funding competition announced by the U.S. Department of State on Tuesday showed a 43% drop in the assistance being offered for organizations working on North Korea human rights issues compared to a similar one offered in late 2016.

A total of USD$1.5 million has been earmarked for the January 16 2018 call for projects to support improvements surrounding North Korea information access and human rights by the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), compared to USD$2.65 million in September 2016.