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South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the phone with US President Donald Trump on May 7. (provided by the Blue House)

After the leaders of South Korea and the US agreed on the need to provide humanitarian food aid to North Korea, the Blue House and the South Korean government started working on a specific plan to accomplish that on May 8. These moves appear to reflect the determination of the South Korean and US leaders to use food aid to restart North Korea-US dialogue, which has been at a standstill since the North Korea-US summit in Hanoi this past February.

During a telephone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in the previous evening, US President Donald Trump said it was very timely for South Korea to provide food to North Korea on humanitarian grounds. Trump said that he supports providing aid, which he thinks is a positive step. The two leaders had reportedly agreed on the need for humanitarian aid while sharing their views about a report on the shortage of food in North Korea that was recently released by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). These two organizations predicted that North Korea will face a shortage of about 1.59 million tons of food this year. While the US has opposed providing most aid, including food, except for medicine and a small fraction of other items, it has reportedly been under pressure from the international community and aid organizations to decouple its pressure on North Korea from humanitarian aid.

Now that the two leaders’ positions have been confirmed, the Blue House and the South Korean government have started working on making the humanitarian food aid official and on finding a way to deliver it.

“Nothing has been decided yet, and we still need to discuss everything, including what we’re going to send, how we’re going to send it, and how much we’re going to send. What we do know is that the two UN organizations have said that [North Korean] children and families need help to get through this difficult time,” said a senior official at the Blue House.

“More discussion is needed about whether the aid will be provided through international organizations or whether [South Korea] will provide it directly.”

“We’ll be working closely with the international community to move forward with humanitarian food aid for the people of North Korea,” said Unification Ministry Spokesperson Lee Sang-min. The South Korean government intends to focus not only on cooperating with the international community in the process of providing aid but also on building a consensus with important countries around the Korean Peninsula.

The Blue House and the South Korean government expect that providing food aid will grease the wheels for denuclearization talks between North Korea and the US. Importantly, the Blue House believes that South Korea and the US have given North Korea enough reason to return to the negotiating table, first by exercising restraint in their response to North Korea’s launch of short-range projectiles on May 4 and then by resuming humanitarian food aid to the North.

“The most important thing right now is maintaining the momentum for dialogue between South Korea, North Korea, and the US. While this probably won’t live up to North Korea’s expectations, it does signify that we mean to use a practical approach to pave the way for future dialogue,” a Blue House official said.

In related news, Stephen Biegun, the US State Department’s special representative for North Korea, arrived in South Korea on Wednesday. Biegun is expected to discuss the issue of food aid to North Korea during a meeting with Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and Blue House officials.

By Seong Yeon-cheol and Noh Ji-won, staff reporters, and Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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