Many are wondering whether South Korea’s decision to send North Korea 10,000 tons of corn will pave the way for humanitarian aid for the poverty-stricken country. South Korea’s National Red Cross notified North Korea on Monday of its plan to provide humanitarian food aid to the North. Under the plan, the South will send 10,000 tons of corn, 20 tons of powdered milk aimed at helping “vulnerable” sectors of the population, such as infants and pregnant women, as well as the provision of medical supplies. The decision came after the North officially made a request for humanitarian aid at the inter-Korean working-level Red Cross contact on October 16. South Korea’s proposed aid provision is far smaller than 300-thousand to 400-thousand tons of rice that the previous Seoul government had sent to the North annually. Technically, the Korean National Red Cross is in charge of the aid, but the government’s inter-Korean cooperation fund will cover the most of the expenses needed for the aid: about 3.4 million dollars. In reality, the aid is considered governmental support. Here’s Jang Yong-seok from the Institute for Peace Affairs to explain.

It would be South Korea’s first government-level assistance to Pyongyang under the Lee Myung-bak administration. The proposed aid, if accepted by the North, is expected to jumpstart Seoul’s humanitarian aid for the North. It will also positively influence South Korea’s diplomatic efforts to deal with inter-Korean affairs, in line with North Korea’s recent conciliatory moves aimed at renewing its relations with foreign countries.

The Lee Myung-bak government has maintained the principle that it will provide food aid to North Korea when the North makes an official request. Seoul will also provide aid without the North’s request when North Korea is in a state of emergency. Pyongyang hadn’t officially asked for food aid until recently. Likewise, South Korea didn’t offer, concluding that the situation in the North wasn’t especially serious. The United States resumed assistance for North Korea in May last year, and South Korea, too, offered 50-thousand tons of corn aid. But the North rejected the proposal. It’s still unclear whether the North will accept the offer of aid this time around. Diplomatic experts say it won’t be easy for North Korea to reject the proposal, in the course of continued appeasing gestures toward the South.

North Korea has advanced a “charm offensive” to the outside world in an apparent bid to ease the diplomatic situation that had aggravated during the first half of this year. North Korea maintains a conciliatory stance. With future inter-Korean relations in mind, North Korea may accept the 10-thousand tons of corn aid in a politically calculated move, even though the amount is relatively small. If the North accepts the proposal, it will help mend the strained relations between the two Koreas.

There is speculation that South Korea’s food aid is the result of inter-Korean contact focused on realizing a South-North summit. It would be challenging for the two sides to break the current deadlock suddenly and create a mood for an inter-Korean summit right away. In this sense, some experts view Seoul’s humanitarian aid as a special measure to form a favorable atmosphere between South and North Korea. The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae makes it clear that its humanitarian aid has nothing to do with an inter-Korean summit. But speculation about a forthcoming bilateral summit is rampant, especially surrounding a report that officials from the two Koreas secretly met in Singapore recently to explore the possibility of a summit.

I think the South and the North did make a secret contact in Singapore. I imagine the North Korean delegation included Kim Yang-gon, chief of the United Front Department, an intelligence agency under the North’s Workers’ Party, and Won Dong-yeon, director of the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which manages inter-Korean business cooperation. But I don’t think Seoul sent high-ranking officials to the meeting. North Korea reportedly suggested the meeting first in an attempt to overcome setbacks triggered by the North’s provocative behavior in the first half of the year and to turn the tide of the diplomatic impasse. South Korea, for its part, responded to the North’s suggestion in order to hear out Pyongyang’s intent, while coping with the current diplomatic situation. Against this backdrop, speculation is brewing over behind-the-scenes inter-Korean contact. The two sides may continue to hold such secret meetings down the road.

But the Singapore meeting reportedly made no progress because the two sides showed differing views about the venue and agenda of an inter-Korean summit. Unification Minister Hyun In-taek stresses that the nuclear issue will comprise the key concern of the summit. His remarks reflect that the government doesn’t feel the need to rush to a summit, with North Korea showing no signs of changing its attitude toward its nuclear dismantlement. But the government is always open to dialogue with North Korea, so it is possible that the two sides may hold follow-up talks. And it depends on what progress will be made in the nuclear issue, like the resumption of the six-party talks, and the sincerity of North Korea’s relations with Seoul. Here again is Mr. Jang.

North Korea and the U.S. will likely hold bilateral talks first, and multilateral negotiations will likely follow. In that process, it’s important for South Korea to play a certain role. Seoul must ponder its position and thoroughly prepare for it. For instance, South Korea could improve relations with Pyongyang and make progress in mutual cooperation in a pragmatic way, though little by little. Seoul also needs to move beyond inter-Korean ties and come up with ways to induce the North to give up its nuclear development in the context of regional security and economic cooperation in Northeast Asia.

South and North Korea are believed to have taken the first step toward humanitarian aid and a bilateral summit. It’s yet to be seen whether the two Korea’s will approach another summit based on mutual trust and sincerity. More importantly, the series of peace-making gestures should eventually lead to a solution to the nuclear issue and inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation.


[Interview] N. Korean Defectors Participate in Pro-Unification Event
The number of North Korean defectors coming to South Korea in search of new hope has reached 16-thousand. There are many private groups dedicated to helping the ever-increasing number of North Korean newcomers who resettle here in South Korea, and in preparation for the eventual reunification of Korea. The South-North Culture Exchange Association is one of those organizations. It has engaged in pro-unification activities for nearly 20 years since its inception in the early 1990s when it was rather hard for South and North Korea to discuss private exchanges in cultural areas. Here’s group president Lee Bae-young.

At the time, I happened to visit Germany. I discovered that the nation still suffered from East-West conflict even after unification due to cultural differences. The cultural estrangement seemed to be hindering the spiritual unification of the German people. I felt cultural integration would be incredibly important in the process of unifying South and North Korea, so I decided to launch this group with those who felt the same.

Some 5,000 members of the association have been hosting seminars to discuss unification issues and providing various support activities for North Korean defectors. On September 13, the group held a special event, entitled “Praying for Unification,” to remind the public of the importance of unification and to offer a lecture to North Korean defectors who have a hard time in adjusting to South Korean society.

We used to give lectures once a month in the past, but now we hold lecture sessions every other month due to financial difficulty. We’ve invited experts and celebrities, including former president Kim Dae-jung, former prime ministers, unification ministers, university presidents and professors. By sharing their views on unification, the group members can enhance their knowledge about unification issues and deliver it to people around them.

During the event, the group offered money and support goods to individual North Korean defectors as a small token of sincerity. The event also featured various programs, including a song contest that participants enjoyed together. Lee says understanding and being considerate of the newcomers, though it may be small step, is the beginning of a genuine unification movement.

South Koreans now live in a multicultural society, but they perceive their North Korean brothers and sisters from a completely different angle. North Korea’s economic and social systems are antithetically different from those of South Korea. The food rationing system is a good example. Naturally, North Korean newcomers find it difficult to adapt to the vastly different system here in the South in the initial stage. South Koreans should understand their difficulty, but social conditions are still inadequate for treating all the newcomers with compassion. I think South Korean people and the government should pay more attention to the newcomers so they can start a new life successfully.

Lee also stresses that the North Korean defectors will certainly play a leading part in integrated Korean society. Through the event, the defectors seemed to realize they could become one with South Koreans. Two defectors express their hope for unification and their potential roles in a unified Korea.

…I believe we, defectors, can contribute to Korea’s unification more than anyone else. While watching the recent reunions of separated families of South and North Korea, I felt the defectors were also included in the separated families. But I’m not sure how long we have to wait until we are reunited with our families in the North. I hope to see my parents and siblings in the North as soon as possible. For that purpose, the defectors will do whatever they can. Both South and North Korea should also work together to advance unification.

…South and North Korea need to recognize each other’s political situation correctly through mutual exchanges. I hope there will be many more events like this, so North Korean defectors can learn more about South Korean society and South Korean citizens can share what the defectors have experienced.