The South Korean government has proposed that 50,000 tons of corn be aided to North Korea, however the North Korean authorities refuse to respond that they are in need. They are refusing to accept anything given by South Korea. Even though there are people dying of starvation, North Korea’s pride will not be compromised. The Myanmar military regime and the Kim Jong Il regime are not at all different from one another in their way of keeping their iron fist regimes in the global scene by refusing international emergency aid.
However, there has been no talk of censuring the Kim Jong Il regime for the fact that it has been willing to submit its people to starvation in order to maintain power. While the food crisis in North Korea has been fundamentally caused by Kim Jong Il’s refusal to open and reform, supporters of the Sunshine Policy are strongly criticizing that the blame falls on the South Korean government and the international community for not providing North Korea with emergency aid. This is nonsense.
Kim Jong Il is clearly the ringleader that has brought about North Korea’s recent food crisis. Therefore, the biggest responsibility and the means of solving the problem lie with Kim Jong Il. In this critical time, he has only to say, “Help us, we are starving.” He has only to take what the international community and the South Korean government are offering to give. Pride and strategies to obtain food are definitely useless. It is only fitting to denounce as truly inhuman the conduct of this regime that holds its people hostage by starving them and uses it as political trickery to subdue the South Korean government. This is not the time for Kim Jong Il to appeal to a certain tactic or to keep his composure by a strategy of isolating South Korea and using the U.S.
North Korea’s food situation is predicted to deteriorate. The people do nothing but are suffered from a succession of scandalous inflation, the spring austerity season, the rising rice prices following the upturn in international grains and market regulations while they have only to rely on the state’s distribution system. Therefore, the regime will eventually drive the people into the torment of hunger.
The solution is simple. The Kim Jong Il regime must immediately accept assistance that is being offered by the international community and the South Korean government. In addition, he must give the people, at the very least, the “freedom to survive by their own means.” If it cannot provide rations, give them the freedom to acquire food on their own. If then, there would be no incidence of obstinate starvation.
The South Korean people and international society, taking into account the North Korean people’s critical food situation, have in no way opposed providing transparent humanitarian assistance. They want the food to be given to those in most need. South Korea and the international community must not forget that transparent monitoring is meant to sustain the lives of the North Korean people, not to enhance the power of the dictatorship. They must demand for monitoring to be strengthened to allow for accurate evaluation of the food situation and for the sound distribution of provisions. If necessary, they must ensure humanitarian aid through international cooperation. More than worrying about North Korea’s current food shortage, we must find a fundamental solution.
Some say that a large scale famine like the one that struck North Korea in the mid 1990s is imminent; already they are a million tons short of rice provisions. On the other hand, others assert that the North Korean people’s survival skills have heightened and large scale famine will not result. They also say that the rice shortage has been exaggerated. In addition, many maintain that aid to North Korea is not going to the general population, but is rather being used in corrupt dealings by the regime organizations and government officials.
No matter what the facts reveal, grasping the actual circumstances surrounding North Korea’s food situation is a priority. Collaboration regarding measuring the deficiency, calculating how to provide food to those in need, and coming up with basic countermeasures is an essential first step. Our government along with the international community must learn and tackle views on the food shortage and concerns regarding the transparency of humanitarian aid. It is predicted that if South Korea gives food without any principle when no one pleading for help, this administration’s North Korea policy will fail as it as for the past 10 years.
