South Korea vows to send aid to North quickly, may send food

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has vowed to move quickly on its plans to provide $8 million worth of humanitarian aid to North Korea through international organizations and is also considering sending food to the country that says it's suffering its worst drought in decades.

Seoul's Unification Ministry said Monday it will discuss its plans with the World Food Program and the United Nations Children's Fund so the aid reaches North Korean children and pregnant women quickly.

Seoul hopes the aid will help revive diplomacy and engagement with Pyongyang that tapered off amid a stalemate in nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea.

But Seoul has yet to decide on concrete plans amid public frustration over recent North Korean missile tests. </s> South Korea vows to send aid to North quickly, may send food

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea vowed Monday to move quickly on its plans to provide $8 million worth of humanitarian aid to North Korea while it also considers sending food to the country that says it's suffering its worst drought in decades.

Lee Sang-min, spokesman of Seoul's Unification Ministry, said the government will discuss its plans with the World Food Program and the United Nations Children's Fund, through which the aid would be provided, so it reaches North Korean children and pregnant women quickly. South Korea is also trying to build public and political support for providing food aid to the North, either directly or through an international organization.

North Korea's state media said last week that the country was suffering its worst drought in nearly four decades amid reported food shortages.

"The government will first discuss with international organizations over the provision of aid and take measures so that the support arrives (in the North) quickly," Lee said. "On the matter of direct aid, we will consider the matter while sufficiently garnering the opinions of our citizens."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has expressed hopes that aid will help revive diplomacy and engagement with Pyongyang, which tapered off following a high-stakes nuclear summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in February that broke down over mismatched demands in sanctions relief and disarmament.

But Moon's government has yet to decide on concrete plans amid growing public frustration over North Korea, which resumed short-range missile tests recently that were apparently aimed at pressuring Washington and Seoul.

North Korean state media said last week that 54.4 millimeters (2.1 inches) of rain fell in the first five months of 2019, which it said represented the lowest level since 1982. U.N. food agencies said earlier this month that about 10 million people were facing "severe food shortages" after one of the North's worst harvests in a decade.

North Korean state media are currently campaigning to urge farmers to do their best with what they have, to grow as much as possible this year.

"At our farm, we got an announcement about the dry weather conditions from our party and our state authorities, so we have taken advance measures to save water, like preparing the fields earlier than before, because we have to save water as much as we can," said Kim Chang Jun, vice chairman of a cooperative farm in the village of Sambong, just outside the capital.

The last time South Korea provided humanitarian aid to North Korea through an international agency was in 2015, when it gave $800,000 to the U.N. Population Fund project to evaluate North Korean public health conditions.

The South has not provided direct food aid to the North since 2010.

Moon's government first proposed providing $8 million to the WFP and UNICEF to help North Korean children and pregnant women in 2017, but the plans were halted amid a torrid run in North Korean weapons tests that year. An abrupt turn toward diplomacy in 2018 saw Kim meet with Trump twice and three times with Moon. </s> South Korea vowed yesterday to move quickly on plans to provide US$8 million worth of humanitarian aid to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea while it also considers sending food to the country that says it’s suffering its worst drought in decades.

Lee Sang-min, spokesman of Seoul’s Unification Ministry, said the government will discuss its plans with the World Food Program and the United Nations Children’s Fund, through which the aid would be provided, so it reaches DPRK children and pregnant women quickly.

South Korea is also trying to build public and political support for providing food aid to the DPRK, either directly or through an international organization.

DPRK’s state media said last week that the country was suffering its worst drought in more than a century amid reported food shortages.

“The government will first discuss with international organizations over the provision of aid and take measures so that the support arrives (in the DPRK) quickly,” Lee said. “On the matter of direct aid, we will consider the matter.”

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has expressed hopes that aid will help revive diplomacy and engagement with Pyongyang, which tapered off following a high-stakes nuclear summit between DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in February that broke down over mismatched demands in sanctions relief and disarmament.

But Moon’s government has yet to decide on concrete plans amid growing public frustration over DPRK, which resumed short-range missile tests recently.

DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency said last Wednesday that an average of 54.4 millimeters of rain fell from January to early May in 2019, which represented the lowest level since 1982. </s> Seoul offers food aid to North Korea in bid to revive diplomatic talks

SEOUL — South Korea vowed Monday to move quickly on plans to provide $8 million worth of medical and nutritional aid for North Korean children through U.N. agencies while it also considers sending broader food aid to the country, which says it is suffering its worst drought in decades.

Lee Sang-min, spokesman for Seoul’s Unification Ministry, said the government will discuss its plans with the World Food Program and the United Nations Children’s Fund, through which the aid would be provided, so it reaches North Korean children and pregnant women. South Korea is also trying to build public and political support for providing wider food aid to North Korea, either directly or through the WFP.

North Korea’s state media last week reported that the country was suffering its worst drought in more than a century amid reported food shortages.

“The government will first discuss with international organizations over the provision of aid and take measures so that the support arrives (in North Korea) quickly,” Lee said. “On the matter of direct aid, we will consider the matter while sufficiently garnering the opinions of our citizens.”

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has expressed hopes that aid will help revive diplomacy and engagement with North Korea, which tapered off after a nuclear summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in February broke down because of differences over sanctions relief and disarmament steps. Kim has since declared that the Trump administration has until the end of the year to come up with mutually acceptable terms for a deal to salvage the negotiations.

Kim’s government recently resumed short-range missile tests that were apparently aimed at pressuring Washington and Seoul. </s> SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea vowed Monday to move quickly on plans to provide $8 million worth of medical and nutritional aid for North Korean children through U.N. agencies while it also considers sending broader food aid to the country, which says it is suffering its worst drought in decades.

Lee Sang-min, spokesman for Seoul's Unification Ministry, said the government will discuss its plans with the World Food Program and the United Nations Children's Fund, through which the aid would be provided, so it reaches North Korean children and pregnant women quickly. South Korea is also trying to build public and political support for providing wider food aid to North Korea, either directly or through the WFP.

North Korea's state media said last week that the country was suffering its worst drought in more than a century amid reported food shortages.

"The government will first discuss with international organizations over the provision of aid and take measures so that the support arrives (in North Korea) quickly," Lee said. "On the matter of direct aid, we will consider the matter while sufficiently garnering the opinions of our citizens."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has expressed hopes that aid will help revive diplomacy and engagement with North Korea, which tapered off after a nuclear summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in February broke down because of differences over sanctions relief and disarmament steps. Kim has since declared that the Trump administration has until the end of the year to come up with mutually acceptable terms for a deal to salvage the negotiations.

While the United States has urged allies to maintain economic pressure on North Korea until it takes material steps toward relinquishing its nuclear weapons, White House spokesman Sarah Sanders recently said Washington has no plan to "intervene" if South Korea moves forward with food aid.

But Moon's government has yet to decide on concrete plans amid growing public frustration over Kim's government, which recently resumed short-range missile tests that were apparently aimed at pressuring Washington and Seoul.

It is also unclear whether any aid package from South Korea would influence the behavior of North Korea, which has been demanding much bigger concessions from the South, such as resuming inter-Korean economic projects currently held back by the U.S.-led sanctions against the North. A North Korean propaganda website last week described the South Korean proposals for humanitarian aid as disrespectful and said Seoul was trying to sidestep fundamental issues with "hollow talk and boastful credit-taking."

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said last Wednesday that an average of 54.4 millimeters (2.1 inches) of rain fell in North Korea from January to early May, which it said was the lowest level since 1982. Two days later, the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the average precipitation of 56.3 millimeters (2.2 inches) from January to May 15 was the country's lowest since 1917.

U.N. food agencies said earlier this month that about 10 million people were facing "severe food shortages" after one of North Korea's worst harvests in a decade.

North Korean state media are urging farmers to do their best with what they have, to grow as much as possible this year. The Rodong Sinmun urged North Korean farmers on Saturday to meet state goals in food production in the face of "hostile forces who don't want us to become prosperous and ... are seeking to make our people undergo shortage of food, bring to collapse their faith in socialism."

"At our farm, we got an announcement about the dry weather conditions from our party and our state authorities, so we have taken advance measures to save water, like preparing the fields earlier than before, because we have to save water as much as we can," said Kim Chang Jun, vice chairman of a cooperative farm in the village of Sambong, just outside the capital.

The last time South Korea provided humanitarian aid to North Korea through an international agency was in 2015, when it gave $800,000 to a U.N. Population Fund project to evaluate North Korean public health conditions.

South Korea has not provided direct food aid to North Korea since 2010.

Moon's government first proposed providing $8 million to the WFP and UNICEF to help North Korean children and pregnant women in 2017, but the plans were halted amid a series of North Korean weapons tests that year. An abrupt turn toward diplomacy in 2018 saw Kim meet with Trump twice and three times with Moon. </s> GENEVA (Reuters) - Severe flooding in North Korea has killed at least 76 people with nearly the same number missing and thousands left homeless by the destruction, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Thursday.

Volunteers from the national Red Cross are conducting search and rescue operations in North and South Hwanghae provinces, where heavy rains began on August 28, it said, adding that many children were among the 75 missing.

“Heavy rains in recent days triggered large-scale flooding and landslides in low-lying areas, destroying more than 800 buildings including homes, clinics and schools,” the Geneva-based Federation said in a statement.

The Red Cross Society of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the country’s official name, was providing aid and deploying mobile water treatment plants, it said.

“Thousands have lost their homes and are in urgent need of health services, shelter, food, safe drinking water and sanitation,” said John Fleming of the Federation’s country office.

A month ago, the agency warned that a heat wave in North Korea had led to rice, maize and other crops withering in the fields, “with potentially catastrophic effects”, putting the country at risk of a “full-blown food security crisis”.

The drought-affected areas were South Hamgyong and South Pyongan provinces.

Drought and floods have long been a seasonal threat in North Korea, which lacks irrigation systems and other infrastructure to ward off natural disasters.

“Extreme weather events are occuring much more often,” Federation spokeswoman Laura Ngo-Fontaine said on Thursday. </s> North Korea's humanitarian crisis has left about 10 million people – nearly half of the population – undernourished, according to UN officials, who have reported a drop in food production in 2017

UNITED NATIONS – The UN Security Council is poised to back a US proposal aimed at removing some of the hurdles that tough sanctions on North Korea have thrown up in the way of delivering humanitarian aid, according to documents obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

North Korea's humanitarian crisis has left about 10 million people – nearly half of the population – undernourished, according to UN officials, who have reported a drop in food production last year.

UN resolutions specify that sanctions should not affect humanitarian aid but relief organizations argue that strict trade and banking measures are creating bureaucratic obstacles and slowing down the flow of vital supplies.

A US proposal put forward last month would provide clear instructions to aid organizations and governments to apply for UN sanctions exemptions for North Korea, according to the text seen by AFP.

After weeks of negotiations, the UN sanctions committee is expected to give final approval to the new guidelines on Monday, July 30.

Once approved, a notice will be sent to the UN's 193 member-states by the committee "to provide a clear explanation of its comprehensive humanitarian exemption mechanism" which will "improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance to DPRK," according to the documents.

The move comes as the United States is calling for maximum pressure to be maintained against North Korea to compel Kim Jong Un to follow through on his pledge to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.

After Russia and China urged the council to ease sanctions, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said the United Nations should not do "one thing" until North Korea takes action to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs.

A US official said the guidelines would ensure that "only critical, life-saving humanitarian activities needed in North Korea can continue" and that requests for exemptions will undergo a detailed review.

"The United States has been very clear that we will continue to enforce the current sanctions until we achieve the final, fully verified, denuclearization of North Korea," said the official, speaking on background.

Asked about the new guidelines, a Dutch official, speaking as the chair of the sanctions committee, said: "We want to make clear that this is about easing the process, not about easing the sanctions."

The Security Council last year adopted 3 rafts of sanctions targeting North Korea's economy in response to Pyongyang's 6th nuclear test and a series of ballistic missile launches.

Those sanctions ban North Korea's exports of raw commodities while severely restricting imports of a range of goods and supplies of oil – vital for the country's military.

The measures have had a chilling effect, with UN agencies and aid organizations struggling to find partners willing to deal with the bureaucratic red tape from the tight sanctions regime on North Korea.

"Economic sanctions are not supposed to have an impact on impartial humanitarian action. But they do. They have unintended consequences," said Simon Schorno, the head of aid operations for the International Red Cross in Asia.

"We haven't seen the guidelines yet but we have been promised that they will speed up procedures, exemptions, and generally make processes run smoother. We're hopeful that the guidelines will make carrying out our work easier," he said.

At a UN meeting last month, North Korean Deputy Ambassador Kim in Ryong complained that deliveries of medical equipment such as X-ray machines, anti-malaria insecticides and reproductive health kits had been held up for months.

Kim said humanitarian aid was being "politicized" and argued that denying assistance to North Koreans in need was a violation of human rights.

The United Nations is also facing a major funding shortfall for its aid operations in North Korea.

An appeal for $111 million in funding for food, medicine and other basic needs for 6 million North Koreans has so far raised only $12 million – 10.9% of the total amount needed.

Only 4 countries have come forward with donations: Switzerland, Sweden, Canada and France. – Rappler.com </s> United Nations, United States (AFP) - The UN Security Council is poised to back a US proposal aimed at removing some of the hurdles that tough sanctions on North Korea have thrown up in the way of delivering humanitarian aid, according to documents obtained by AFP.

North Korea's humanitarian crisis has left about 10 million people - nearly half of the population - undernourished, according to UN officials, who have reported a drop in food production last year.

UN resolutions specify that sanctions should not affect humanitarian aid but relief organisations argue that strict trade and banking measures are creating bureaucratic obstacles and slowing down the flow of vital supplies.

A US proposal put forward last month would provide clear instructions to aid organisations and governments to apply for UN sanctions exemptions for North Korea, according to the text seen by AFP.

After weeks of negotiations, the UN sanctions committee is expected to give final approval to the new guidelines on Monday.

Once approved, a notice will be sent to the UN's 193 member-states by the committee "to provide a clear explanation of its comprehensive humanitarian exemption mechanism" which will "improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance to DPRK," according to the documents.

The move comes as the United States is calling for maximum pressure to be maintained against North Korea to compel Kim Jong Un to follow through on his pledge to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.

After Russia and China urged the council to ease sanctions, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said the United Nations should not do "one thing" until North Korea takes action to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs.

A US official said the guidelines would ensure that "only critical, life-saving humanitarian activities needed in North Korea can continue" and that requests for exemptions will undergo a detailed review.

"The United States has been very clear that we will continue to enforce the current sanctions until we achieve the final, fully verified, denuclearization of North Korea," said the official, speaking on background.

Asked about the new guidelines, a Dutch official, speaking as the chair of the sanctions committee, said: "We want to make clear that this is about easing the process, not about easing the sanctions." .

The Security Council last year adopted three rafts of sanctions targeting North Korea's economy in response to Pyongyang's sixth nuclear test and a series of ballistic missile launches.

Those sanctions ban North Korea's exports of raw commodities while severely restricting imports of a range of goods and supplies of oil - vital for the country's military.

The measures have had a chilling effect, with UN agencies and aid organisations struggling to find partners willing to deal with the bureaucratic red tape from the tight sanctions regime on North Korea.

"Economic sanctions are not supposed to have an impact on impartial humanitarian action. But they do. They have unintended consequences," said Simon Schorno, the head of aid operations for the International Red Cross in Asia.

"We haven't seen the guidelines yet but we have been promised that they will speed up procedures, exemptions, and generally make processes run smoother. We're hopeful that the guidelines will make carrying out our work easier," he said.

At a UN meeting last month, North Korean Deputy Ambassador Kim in Ryong complained that deliveries of medical equipment such as X-ray machines, anti-malaria insecticides and reproductive health kits had been held up for months.

Kim said humanitarian aid was being "politicised" and argued that denying assistance to North Koreans in need was a violation of human rights.

The United Nations is also facing a major funding shortfall for its aid operations in North Korea.

An appeal for US$111 million in funding for food, medicine and other basic needs for six million North Koreans has so far raised only US$12 million - 10.9 per cent of the total amount needed.

Only four countries have come forward with donations: Switzerland, Sweden, Canada and France. </s> David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Program (WFP), is seeking to exploit a diplomatic thaw between Pyongyang and Washington to potentially secure hundreds of millions of dollars from donor countries to dramatically expand U.N. relief operations in North Korea.

But the former Republican governor from South Carolina has encountered resistance from the White House, even as President Donald Trump prepares to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore next month.

According to two diplomatic sources, White House officials rebuffed Beasley’s appeal for funds in a meeting in late April.

The United States donated hundreds of millions of dollars to WFP’s food assistance to Pyongyang in the 1990s but began phasing out aid after the George W. Bush administration designated North Korea as part of the Axis of Evil in 2002. Today, the United States no longer contributes to the food agency’s operations in North Korea.

If the United States commits funds to food aid, U.N. officials say, other countries, including Japan and South Korea, are likely to give more generously.

Beasley, who returned recently from a visit to Pyongyang and other parts of the country, told Foreign Policy in an interview that North Koreans face a shortfall of up to 2 million metric tons of food each year.

He didn’t specify the cost of expanding the U.N. program. But filling that gap, experts say, could run to $750 million in food assistance each year.

More than 10 million of the country’s 25 million residents are undernourished, according to a 2017 U.N. report.

“The human needs are so great, and we have a severe funding shortage,” Beasley said.

“We hope that we will receive the necessary funding to ramp up in a major way. But it is up to us to show the donors the needs [of North Koreans]. The donors want to know the food is going to the intended recipient — and not supporting a military buildup.”

Trump’s White House has been reluctant to offer foreign aid, particularly to America’s adversaries. A National Security Council spokesman, Robert Palladino, would not comment directly on the question of Beasley’s contacts with the administration. But he said the United States would continue to apply pressure on North Korea until it is free of nuclear weapons.

“Weapons of mass destruction are extremely expensive. The reallocation of North Korean resources currently being used to build weapons programs would bring immense benefit to the North Korean people,” he said.

The prospects of a landmark summit between the American and North Korean leaders hit a bump on Tuesday, when North Korea reportedly threatened to cancel the June 12 summit if the U.S. and South Korea continue joint military exercises in the region. But U.S. officials said they have received no official notice of North Korea’s plans to withdraw from the talks and plan to proceed with preparations.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News Sunday that the United States would consider authorizing American companies to make private investments in a nuclear weapons-free North Korea. But he said U.S. taxpayers would not foot the bill.

“I wouldn’t look for economic aid from us,” John Bolton, the U.S. national security advisor, told CNN on Sunday. The goal, according to Bolton, is to have North Korea become a “normal nation” that can fend for itself.

Not all Republicans ruled out the idea of aid. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday that it would be the “best money we ever spent,” provided that North Korea was willing to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

“If you could really get North Korea to give up their nuclear program, then I think there’d be a lot of support in Congress to give North Korea a better life,” he said.

At its height in the 1990s, the WFP’s relief operation spent $750 million on North Korea each year.

The agency’s aid to Pyongyang is much smaller today and includes the distribution of fortified cereals, biscuits, and nutritional supplements to about 650,000 pregnant women, young mothers, and children under the age of 5.

Funding shortfalls have plagued the U.N. relief agency. If the organization cannot secure $10 million in funding over the next six months, it will have to cut the rations to women and children, a WFP spokesperson says.

Beasley’s visit to North Korea this month was his first as the United Nations’ top food official. He met with senior North Korean officials in Pyongyang and toured WFP projects in several outlying provinces.

The visit coincided with Pompeo’s second meeting with Kim and the release of three detained U.S. citizens. The two delegations did not meet.

In the interview, Beasley said that while he saw no sign of the widespread starvation that afflicted North Koreans in the 1990s, severe malnutrition continued to pose a threat.

North Korea faces geographical, environmental, and technological challenges to meeting its population’s basic food needs, he said. Only about 20 percent of the country’s land is arable.

But Beasley was upbeat about the prospects of delivering assistance where needed. “Let me say clearly, the access our team has been granted thus far has been unprecedented,” he said. “Clearly, a new door of opportunity has been opened.”

Beasley said he pressed North Korean officials to provide more “accurate and detailed information” about the country’s needs and to ensure “improved access” for U.N. workers.

“The response was very positive. We can see clearly they want to turn a new page of history.”

Beasley is now pressing governments in Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington to step up funding for the operations.

Beasley declined to comment on his discussions with the White House except to say, “I have meetings at many houses, including the White House. Let me be clear, the United States is the No. 1 donor to the World Food Program.”

U.N. officials are still hopeful that U.S. reluctance to commit to funding food aid is merely part of its opening negotiating stance and that it may soften its position during talks. South Korea has been more receptive to Beasley’s calls for greater humanitarian aid. North Korea’s high levels of malnutrition present an existential challenge to Seoul, which may one day have to shoulder the burden of caring for North Koreans if the government should ever collapse and the two nations united.

“It is very much in the South Koreans’ interest to get more food into the country because of massive stunting and malnutrition,” said Nancy Lindborg, who ran feeding programs during the Clinton and Bush administrations.

But she cautioned that humanitarian assistance flowing into North Korea should be distributed and monitored by WFP relief officials, not given directly to North Korea’s distribution system. And any pact authorizing the resumption of a large-scale food deliveries should not be negotiated as part of a broader political pact.

“Anytime you provide human assistance as part of a political package, you risk cutting off the assistance when the politics fail,” Lindborg said. “They totally control the spigot, and they can turn it on or off depending on the politics.”
South Korea vows to send humanitarian aid to North Korea through international organizations as it suffers droughts.