On June 11^th, the Ministry of Unification selected 26 private organizations to receive governmental support. Surprisingly given the nature of the North Korea issue, not one group with a focus on human rights was chosen, leading to vocal criticism that the government may lack the desire to deal with questions of human rights violations.  

Starting on April 25^th, the application process lasted for 20 days, whereupon a grant committee including a number of foreign experts rigorously assessed a total of 89 applicant organizations. The grants handed out to the victorious 26 totalled $630,000 USD over the course of the year, approximately $100,000 USD less than in 2013.

The types of groups selected include ones that seek to unify public opinion concerning unification; others that provide education on unification to future generations; and still more that accurately inform others about North Korean society and work to bring about peaceful unification. Of the 26 groups that were selected, the majority took as their focus North-South trade cooperation or unification processes, and more than 90% were specifically related to “unification”.

A handful of human rights organizations applied, yet while human rights was specifically mentioned as an attribute or area that such a group might focus upon, not one organization centered on North Korean human rights was selected, and nor were any with tangential roots in the area. This has led to criticism of the process, and of the government itself. It has even been alleged that human rights groups were dropped to avoid any possible conflict with the progressive sphere.

Seven one-time “concert” projects were selected, leading also to the assertion that the Ministry “might as well be an entertainment company.” Moreover, five victorious groups were given follow-on grants from 2013, causing concerns over transparency.

An official related to the process told Daily NK on condition of anonymity, “I heard directly that North Korean human rights groups received good scores from the foreign expert panel.” However, “The Ministry ignored these evaluations and unilaterally decided the successful candidates.”

“One can only conclude that the outcome was decided on impulse. Giving aid to groups putting together ‘events’ is contrary to their principles [those of the Park administration] and is no help to unification policy,” the source pointed out, adding, “There are even rumors around that they could have pre-selected the winners.”

The Ministry of Unification is remaining tight-lipped about the case, and an official dismissed Daily NK’s request for comment, stating simply, “In accordance with regulations, we do not disclose the names of the organizations that applied. We used objective standards including stated missions, potential for progress, and budgets to select the winners.”

The Ministry of Unification budget allocated to improving North Korean human rights is currently just 0.01% of the total ministerial budget, suggesting, some say, that the government may not have a genuine interest in bettering human rights conditions in North Korea.