Conservative opposition prevents promised delivery of South Korean aid to North Korea

Posted on : 2017-11-20 16:56 KST Modified on : 2017-11-20 16:56 KST
The assistance had been slated for vulnerable groups suffering from malnourishment
North Korean children in Pyongyang receive UNICEF food distribution in May 2013. (Hankyoreh Archive Photo)
North Korean children in Pyongyang receive UNICEF food distribution in May 2013. (Hankyoreh Archive Photo)

Two months after the South Korean government announced it would resume humanitarian aid to North Korea through international organizations (which had been suspended by previous president Park Geun-hye), it has failed to carry out this plan. This is a baffling delay, observers say, given the emphasis placed on the urgency of providing aid to vulnerable groups in North Korea, such as young children and pregnant women, when the government announced its plan to resume aid to the North this past September.

The government’s first announcement of its plan to resume humanitarian aid to North Korea through international bodies was made on Sept. 14. “A plan to provide US$8 million altogether at the request of UN agencies such as UNICEF and the World Food Programme will be discussed at the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council,” said an official from the Unification Ministry at the time. This basically confirmed the principle of “moving forward with humanitarian aid separately from the political situation” despite North Korea’s sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3.

Even though North Korea test launched the Hwasung-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile the very next day, on Sept. 15, the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council convened a week later, on Sept. 21, and confirmed the plan to resume humanitarian aid to North Korea through international organizations as planned.

“In light of the poor conditions of North Koreans, and in particular vulnerable groups such as infants, young children and new and expectant mothers, we have consistently expressed our plan to move forward with humanitarian aid separately from the political situation. Handling sanctions against the North Korean regime and humanitarian aid for the North Korean people separately is a universal principle and value shared by the international community,” Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said at the time.

The humanitarian aid programs that the government has agreed to support include one by the World Food Programme (US$4.5 million) aimed at providing nutrition assistance to North Korean day care facilities, pediatric clinics, and new and expectant mothers and another by UNICEF (US$3.5 million) aimed at treating malnutrition and providing vaccinations and essential medicines for diarrhea and respiratory infections to children and new and expectant mothers.

According to the project plans for this year that six UN agencies based in North Korea unveiled this past March, around 18 million of the 24.9 million people living in North Korea need assistance because of inadequate food and nutrients. Furthermore, 22% of the causes of death among North Koreans who are five years old and younger are diarrhea and acute respiratory diseases, which can be treated as long as medication is available. (The mortality rate for children of this age is 25 per 1,000 people in North Korea, compared to 3 per 1,000 in the South.) This is a primary reason the government emphasized the urgency of humanitarian aid for the North.

But the government has in fact delayed this aid for two months now, while only repeating that “the timing and amount of aid will be decided after taking full account of the overall conditions, including the state of inter-Korean relations.” This stance seems to accommodate conservative opposition to humanitarian aid to North Korea, even though the Kim Jong-un regime has halted its nuclear weapon and missile provocations during the same period of time. A Unification Ministry official said much the same on Nov. 19: “Working-level deliberations with international organizations are continuing, and we are planning to proceed with providing the aid at the appropriate time after taking full account of the overall conditions.”

The latest figures on the status of fundraising for humanitarian programs released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA) on Nov. 9 show that various UN agencies need US$113.5 million for humanitarian activities in North Korea this year. As of the end of October, the actual money that had been raised was just US$33.9 million, amounting to 29.9% of the total. The UN reported that aid for 13 million needy individuals was in serious danger because of the extreme shortage of funding and warned that some important humanitarian aid programs might have to be shut down.

“Humanitarian aid isn’t under UN sanctions, and even the US provides humanitarian aid. There’s no reason for the government to hesitate on this issue: it should set the ground rules and act accordingly,” said Kim Yeon-cheol, a professor at Inje University. 

By Jung In-hwan and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporters

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