Text Fwd: [Hankyoreh Editorial] Food aid to N.Korea

Hankyoreh
[Editorial] Food aid to N.Korea
Posted on : Mar.28,2011 14:44 KST

The United Nations recently issued a recommendation that the international community supply more than 430 thousand tons of emergency aid to more than six million North Koreans. The time has come for the South Korean government to provide aid, not only to relieve the suffering of fellow Koreans but also in consideration of the actions of the international community.

The U.N. report indicates a serious food shortage in North Korea. The situation has worsened due to flooding last summer and frigid temperatures in the winter, and the report predicts that food supplies will run out some time between May and July. In particular, it warns of a grave danger of malnutrition and disease among vulnerable groups such as children, women, and the elderly. The World Food Programme (WFP), U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and UNICEF began visiting nine provinces and 40 counties in the country on Feb. 20 based on a principle of not supplying aid to any place they are unable to visit directly. It is for this reason that the latest report is recognized as having more objectivity and transparency than ever before.

It is evident that moves by the international community to provide food aid will pick up in the wake of this report. The current attitude from the United States is that political matters and humanitarian issues must be separately addressed. Washington has declared that it would make a decision as to whether to provide aid after the U.N. report came out, making it likely that it will soon begin taking follow-up measures. U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry also issued a statement urging the resumption of humanitarian food aid in line with the U.N.’s recommendation.

The problem is that the attitude from Seoul remains as rigid as ever. Officials of the Lee Myung-bak administration have offered various excuses for playing down the significance of the U.N. report. Officials have also expressed signs of mistaken confidence that even if the United States hopes to resume aid, they can convince it not to do so through bilateral discussions. Recently, the administration agreed to permit small-scale food aid at the private level to North Korean infants and small children. This is a typical strategy by the Lee administration to dodge criticism that it is avoiding humanitarian measures, while at the same time managing to avoid the provision of any real food aid at the governmental level.

The situation has simply become one of frustration. How long will Seoul alone insist on this inflexible attitude? Does our government feel comfortable bearing criticism that it has heartlessly turned its back on the suffering of fellow Koreans? The time has come to resume humanitarian food aid to North Korea regardless of the political situation. It may also serve as a starting point for thawing relations between North Korea and South Korea, which remain frosty as ever. We look forward to a fundamental change in perspective from the administration, if only out of consideration for the actions of the international community.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]