hankyoreh

North Korea’s food situation looks serious. This year’s harvest was not a good one, and ever since Pyongyang launched a missile in July, the South has withheld rice and fertilizer aid, and there has been a dramatic drop in international aid, as well. Seoul says humanitarian aid should be something that should be "pure," unattached to any political situation, but it is still unable to take action as it seems to be merely looking around, unsure about what to do. We hope to see it take a profoundly changed approach before the situation gets worse.

Estimates on North Korean food production this year vary; some predict between 4.30 and 4.50 million tons, slightly less than last year’s, while others predict a 40 percent smaller harvest, at roughly 2.80 tons. That would mean the North is short as little as between 600,000 and 1 million tons or by as much as 2 million tons, but outside aid currently amounts to less than 300,000 tons. The international community, represented largely by the UN World Food Programme, once gave food to as many as 6.5 million North Koreans. Now it gives food to only one million. The situation is such that those at the lower end of the hierarchy of food distribution are entirely at risk. It is becoming more convincing that if the situation continues like this, many will begin to starve next spring.

It is a fact that North Korea’s test of a nuclear device and its inappropriate strategical approach to the six-party talks has had a negative influence on global opinion, and that this is becoming an obstacle to its getting food aid. There is no system in place for verifying whether aid given is being sent to those who need it. Another problem is how the North Korean government does not place the highest priority on its people. After a ten-year food crisis, any government should be completely frank about its difficulties, and ask the international community for help.

The larger principle behind humanitarian aid, however, surpasses all other factors. If it becomes a tool for achieving policy goals, disadvantaged North Korean people will suffer first and, ultimately, it will only be harder for those policy goals to be achieved. The private groups in South Korea who are trying to give the North aid do not have the political and infrastructural strength to give all that is needed. The government has to take the initiative. If it would be hard to give the North a loan of food or fertilizer right now, it should at least resume the roundabout giving of aid through an international organization.

The other day, new Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong said in his first regular briefing that the government will pursue, side-by-side with the six-party talks, North-South dialogue designed to get a peace process moving. This is the right direction to take, but humanitarian aid has to come before peace talks, even. South Korea needs to move first in order for the mood in the international community to change. Saving lives is at the center of peace.


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