The possibility of South Korea sending North Korea food aid is rising after recent floods hit the northwest of the country, something that has received a mixed response from South Korea’s politicians.
Both the ruling and opposition parties welcome the idea, but the administration itself is taking a more cautious approach.
Ahn Sang Soo, the leader of the ruling Grand National Party, suggested the resumption of rice aid to North Korea in a closed meeting between party representatives, the administration and the Blue House on Sunday. He suggested that rice aid may help improve inter-Korean relations, and added that North Korea is facing a food shortage due to the latest floods while South Korea pays out enormous sums to store its rice surplus.
A GNP spokesperson said the administration has agreed to examine Ahn’s suggestion, and the GNP will then discuss the issue after the administration makes its position known.
Some GNP lawmakers say they agree with the suggestion because South Korea needs to have room for dialogue with North Korea in order to take the initiative should an emergency happen. Therefore, the South should both sanction but simultaneously aid North Korea, in their view.
The opposition parties unanimously agreed with the humanitarian aid proposal.
Park Jie Won, the leader of the Democratic Party said, “The thing the Lee Myung Bak administration has to do is to start unconditional humanitarian rice aid to North Korea as soon as possible in order to relieve (South Korean) farmers’ difficulties in a way that will not hurt (North Korea’s) pride.”
Lee Hoi Chang, the leader of the Liberty Forward Party, noted, “Humanitarian food aid is an exception to the reciprocity principle of policy on North Korea. The administration should find ways to give rice, a stockpile that is overflowing in South Korea.”
However, the administration is keeping to a prudent attitude on the issue.
A Blue House official said, “Ahn suggested rice aid out of the blue, but this topic is not the kind of matter which can just pop up from a party and be dealt with, it is a matter to be carried out through close negotiation between the administration and the parties. We have not reconciled the opinions on aid to North Korea of the two sides.”
The Ministry of Unification revealed through its daily briefing on Monday, “The administration has not examined the issue of rice aid yet.”
A researcher with the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), Kim Su Am cautiously welcomed the suggestion in a telephone interview with The Daily NK yesterday, saying, “Aiding North Korea on a humanitarian basis is welcome work, but the administration should keep its distance from the aid policy of Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun, in which the South tried to improve relations with the North through humanitarian aid.”
Kim pointed out, “The main thing the Lee Myung Bak administration should do is solve the matter of distribution transparency so that North Korean residents can get aid materials directly from the South.”
Meanwhile, the administration’s new Special Affairs Minister, Lee Jae Oh from the GNP revealed his stance on it during his National Assembly confirmation hearing yesterday, saying, “From the humanitarian aspect, we need to examine the rice aid issue,” and adding, “There are reportedly many casualties from the floods in Shinuiju. We should think of it from the humanitarian aspect. We should think separately about humanitarian and political matters.”
