hankyoreh

found in North Korea’s South Pyeongyang province. Most of Anju is covered in water from recent heavy rains. (Yonhap News)

By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter

The South Korean government will prevent private organizations from providing food aid to recent victims of flooding in North Korea.

World Vision, one of the organizations of the Korea NGO Council for Cooperation with North Korea (KNCCK), was expected to send 500 tons of flour to flood victims in the North on August 4. However, the Unification Ministry recently put off permission to ship the flour demanding that North Korea submit a plan showing how the flour would be distributed. In addition to the aid by World Vision, an additional 500 tons of flour was planned to be sent by the KNCCK August 11, but it is not certain whether this can happen.

Kang Young-shik, Secretary General of the Korean Sharing Movement, another organization from the KNCCK, said on August 4, “It goes against common sense to demand that where the food will be declared ahead of time when there are people in need.” He added, “It is like saying that they do not wish us to help North Korea.”

The Secretary General complained that requiring a distribution plan or restricting the amount of aid should apply to inter-governmental support but not at the private level. “I cannot understand why they meddle in the works of humanitarian aid,” Kang said.

The KNCCK had planned to send an emergency one thousand tons of flour at first to help the flood victims, without first receiving a distribution plan. An additional two thousand tons were to be sent later on, this amount directed to North Korean children. This second shipment would be accompanied by a distribution plan and monitored.

To this, Unification Ministry spokesperson Kim Hyung-seok said, “a distribution plan applies to all aid going to North Korea, including humanitarian aid and even in emergency situations.” He added, “all they need to do is to get the plan from the North Koreans.”

The Unification Ministry estimated that this year’s harvest yield may have been 60,000 tons short due to a severe drought in May and June, which was followed closesly by heavy rain that caused flooding in July and August. An estimated 817 died or went missing in the flood, and there was extensive damage to 120,000 hectares of farmland and 56,000 homes and buildings. The official number of people affected by the floods was 230,000.

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