NEWS STORY: Relief groups pressure U.S. to send food aid to communist North Korea

c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Private relief groups are urging the U.S. State Department to put moral concerns ahead of geo-political maneuvering by sending emergency food assistance to help avert a looming famine in communist North Korea.”Food aid should never be used as a weapon of diplomacy in a famine when thousands of […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Private relief groups are urging the U.S. State Department to put moral concerns ahead of geo-political maneuvering by sending emergency food assistance to help avert a looming famine in communist North Korea.”Food aid should never be used as a weapon of diplomacy in a famine when thousands of poor people’s lives are at stake,”said a statement released by InterAction, a Washington-based coalition of more than 150 non-profit humanitarian groups.

Leaders of relief groups _ including several religiously affiliated organizations _ met in a closed-door session with State Department officials Thursday (Jan. 23) to discuss the North Korean crisis.


The United Nations World Food Program has estimated that North Korea is suffering a food deficit of about 2.3 million metric tons, the approximate amount needed to feed 12 million people annually. According to InterAction, severe malnutrition will begin by May unless relief is sent as soon as possible to the hardline communist nation.”Hundreds of thousands of lives are probably at risk here, maybe more,”said meeting participant Andrew Natsios, vice-president of the Christian relief group World Vision.

Recognizing the severity of the situation, North Korea has set aside its long-time strict isolationist policy and begun accepting outside food aid. In addition, North Korea has allowed some international humanitarian groups to work inside its borders.

However, South Korea, a key regional ally, has opposed any closer relations between the U.S. government and the North Korean regime. Several members of Congress have also objected to dealings with one of the world’s last communist strongholds.

But relief groups are urging the government to take a”moral stance”and provide at least 2 million tons of emergency grain to North Korea.”Under the credo of `a hungry child knows no politics,’ the United States has a proud 12-year tradition of providing food assistance to people whose lives are threatened by famine without regard to politics,”said the InterAction statement, which was released after the State Department meeting.

Natsios, who characterized the meeting as”confrontational,”denied that sending food aid would be the same as feeding an enemy.”(North Korea) is a repressive, totalitarian regime, and we are not defending the regime,”he said. “But the people who are first to die in a famine are children under five, (breast-feeding) mothers and elderly people,”said Natsios, adding that”the elites and the military always eat, and they are the ones who make the policies that we find reprehensible in North Korea.” Natsios noted that under previous administrations, the U.S. government has provided humanitarian aid to civilians in places such as Iran, Iraq and Sudan, despite political tensions between governments.

Several relief officials said U.S. government involvement is needed because of the scope of the crisis.”While the (non-governmental) community has raised private funds … for alleviating the current food shortages and remains committed to provide assistance in this crisis, it is the concern of the humanitarian community that without the United States government leadership in providing large-scale food aid, famine conditions and death may result,”said Don Krumm, senior advocate for Refugees International.

Earlier this week, Church World Service, the relief arm of the National Council of Churches, issued an appeal for $500,000 in donations to send aid to North Korea. A 10-member NCC delegation is currently in the country to oversee distribution of 670 tons of rice that the relief agency recently shipped there.


U.S. officials said they are considering the appeal.”While the (U.S. government) has no immediate plans to provide food assistance to (North Korea), we are continuing to monitor the situation there closely,”said Charles Kartman, acting assistant secretary of state for east Asian and Pacific affairs.

Kartman noted that after severe flooding in 1995, the U.S. donated more than $8 million to U.N. agencies to provide food and medical supplies to North Korean civilians.

Natsios, who was director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the Reagan administration, said the U.S. government has little time to delay over the issue. “It takes several months to order food and ship it. We are running out of time,”he said.

The InterAction statement also highlighted the urgency of the situation. “We should heed the warning and not merely wait for another situation like the Somalia famine to occur,”the statement asserted.

MJP END LAWTON

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