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Sul Hoon, a supreme council member with the Democratic Party, said on May 31 that the South Korean government “plans to provide 50,000 tons of food aid [to North Korea] through an international agency next week.”

Speaking during a supreme council meeting at Freedom House on the South Korean side of the Panmunjom Joint Security Area (JSA) that day, Sul said, “According to a UN study, the number of North Korean suffering from a shortage of food is around 10.1 million, or about 40% of the total population.”

“Another 1.45 million tons will be needed to resolve the North Korean food shortage,” he continued, stressing that “we cannot miss the period from May to September, when North Korea is most in need of food aid.”

Sul also called for the pursuit of direct aid based on discussions between South and North Korean authorities.

“We need to consider providing immediate support independent and with a sense of urgency, rather than indirect support through international organizations,” he said.

“I propose that we hold discussions with North Korea toward establishing a stable and transparent environment for direct aid,” he added.

Sul went on to say, “Many North Koreans died of hunger during the mid-1990s, and we merely looked on without being able to provide any real aid.”

“That cannot be allowed to happen again,” he said.

“During times of difficulty, we need to be able to step forward and help out as fellow Koreans. Now is a time when we have to do that,” he stressed.

In connection with this, the Ministry of Unification, which is the chief agency responsible for aid to North Korea, said the decision to provide 50,000 tons of food aid through an international organization “has not been finalized yet.”

“Once it is finalized, we will make an announcement,” the ministry said.

At a May 17 meeting of the NSC standing committee presided over by National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong, the administration announced that it would be “fully examining the public’s views on the North Korean food aid issue and examining plans to provide concrete support, including assistance through international organizations [the World Food Programme] or direct assistance to the North.” Previously, President Moon Jae-in had proposed a meeting of ruling and opposition party leaders during a May 9 appearance on the KBS network for second anniversary of his coming to office.

“To provide humanitarian food aid to North Korea, we would need to use the inter-Korean cooperation fund and report on it later [to the National Assembly],” he said at the time. On May 13, he showed his commitment to providing food aid when he made the unusual move of meeting personally with WFP Executive Director David Beasley, who was visiting South Korea to appeal for emergency aid to the North. Both Sul’s remarks as a ruling party supreme council member and the response from the Ministry of Unification represented continuations of the administration’s policy approach on the issue.

By Lee Ji-hae, staff reporter, and Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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