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(Yonhap Editorial) Rice aid to North Korea
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- The recent flooding of the Yalu River in North Korea, which devastated massive areas of farmland, public buildings and individual homes in the Sinuiju region, is feared to aggravate the already serious shortage of food in the North, and voices are high here that the government may consider giving humanitarian aid to North Korea.
Both the ruling and opposition parties expressed a common view on the matter. In a meeting with government officials on Sunday, Ahn Sang-soo, chairman of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), raised the necessity of considering resumption of rice shipments to Pyongyang, citing the North's worsening food crisis in the wake of the severe floods.
The GNP chairman also said that a North Korea-bound rice shipment would help Seoul promote rice consumption and cut costs for the state's stockpile of rice, particularly ahead of the government's upcoming annual rice purchase.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and the splinter Liberty Forward Party welcomed Ahn's proposal and urged the government to make a decision at an early date.
The government, however, has so far maintained a lukewarm attitude. The Unification Ministry, the main government arm handling affairs with North Korea, denied that any plan to resume rice aid to the communist state was in the making.
The dire situation in the North may lead to a serious famine in the country and the resumption of humanitarian aid is judged to be very urgent. We hope that the government will make a quick decision.
The resumption of rice aid to the North is also hoped to be helpful for inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation. Inter-Korean relations worsened last year when the North conducted long-range missile and nuclear tests. Tensions have continued to rise since the March sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in the Yellow Sea near the disputed maritime border with the North. Investigators said the sinking that killed 46 sailors was the result of a North Korean torpedo attack, but the North denies any involvement.
Naturally, there are also different voices in our society opposing the provision of aid to the North in a time when much of the world has imposed sanctions against the country following the sinking of the Cheonan. Some also fear that the aid would not be given to the North Korean people, but would be diverted by North Korean authorities.
From a wider perspective, however, it is necessary for us to provide humanitarian aid to the North to help its people who are suffering tremendous pain from a natural disaster and to bring forth a turning point to change the stalled inter-Korean relations.
(END)
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