With food aid for North Korea comprising an important concern in the international community, the chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea, Choi Tae-bok, has made an appeal for food aid from Britain. According to British lawmaker David Alton, Choi requested food aid during a meeting with high-ranking British officials in London in late March, saying that the upcoming two months would be the most difficult time for North Koreans due to the worst cold spell in years in the past winter and insufficient crop production last year. Professor Yu Ho-yeol of the North Korean Studies Department at Korea University says it is true that North Korea is suffering from chronic food shortages. But the professor also notes that the North has not asked for food aid before, even when it was hit hard by a severe food crisis in the 1990s. The professor speculates that North Korea has been actively trying to secure food recently not because it is actually running out of food, but because it seeks to attribute more achievements to heir-apparent Kim Jong-un.

North Korea has been asking for food aid not only from Britain but also from the international community, including South Korea and the United States. It is true that North Korea faces food shortages. But it doesn’t mean that the nation’s food situation has worsened noticeably. It is unlikely that the current situation is as severe as the massive famine in the 1990s, either. Rather, North Korea seems to be stacking up food before declaring a “strong and prosperous North Korea” next year and marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of its late founder Kim Il-sung, which falls on April 15 next year. Grand celebrations of the occasions next year and sufficient food will serve as an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of Kim Jong-un, who has emerged as the next leader of North Korea.

Some observers are taking note of the World Food Program’s report that was released on March 25. The WFP conducted an assessment on the food situation in North Korea from February 21 through March 11 together with two U.N. agencies—the Food and Agriculture Organization and UNICEF. The report said that North Korea would be short of one million and 86-thousand tons of food, calling for 430-thousand tons of international food aid to feed 6.1 million people who belong to vulnerable groups. But some experts question the reliability of the WFP report, doubting that it was based on objective data.

The WFP released a similar report last year. In this year’s report, it estimated that North Korea would be short of about 1.2 million tons of food. To supplement the cited amount, North Korea should purchase food or receive aid from the outside world. The UN food agency predicts that the spring lean season will be particularly difficult for North Koreans. In fact, however, it is very hard to figure out exactly what is happening in North Korea. I think the overall conditions in North Korea are inadequate, so it must have been hard for the WFP to conduct a full assessment. I imagine UN officials gauged the food situation there based on their visits to some regions and information provided by North Korean authorities, which I think lacks credibility.

Also, many continue to point out that the distribution of food in North Korea is not still transparent. The Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, a Seoul-based non-profit organization, conducted a survey on 500 North Korean defectors living in South Korea from March 25 to 31. According to the survey, about 78 percent of the respondents said they had never received food provided by South Korea or the international community. There were people who had received outside food aid, but 27 percent of them replied that they “returned” part of the food or all of it. Experts stress the importance of increasing transparency in distributing food to North Korean people in need. Here’s Han Gi-hong, the representative of the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, to explain.

The survey was about the distribution of outside food aid in North Korea. The reclusive nation never provides the outside world with objective, reliable information about supply and demand of food, rather it keeps asking for assistance unconditionally. We conducted this survey with the purpose of approaching this issue based on the testimonies of people who actually lived in North Korea. One-hundred nine respondents, or 21.8 percent, said they had received food from the U.N., South Korea or other foreign countries in the past, while 391 people, or 78.2 percent, replied they had not received such food aid, not even once. The survey result reveals that international food aid is not distributed to ordinary citizens in the North in a proper way. And an overwhelming majority of respondents, 98.4 percent, said they had never seen inspectors or monitors from international agencies. I think international organizations should make greater efforts to enhance transparency in food distribution in North Korea.

In the meantime, the South Korean government has decided to allow civic groups to send tuberculosis medicine, powdered milk and bread to North Korea. But the government is still reluctant to provide governmental-level food assistance to the North, since there are no objective data available about the food situation in North Korea and transparency in the distribution of food is not guaranteed. For more pragmatic food aid for North Korea, Professor Yu stresses the need for a change in North Korea’s attitude in tandem with international cooperation.

Obviously, food production in North Korea is limited because the nation doesn’t have enough farming areas and fertilizer. After all, the impoverished country must receive aid from outside. The North could import food from overseas, but the nation spends money purchasing weapons instead, as seen in various reports. It wouldn’t be difficult for North Korea to secure one million tons of food if the huge amount of money spent on weapons purchases and nuclear development was diverted into food imports. In this sense, the international community should be circumspect of unconditional food assistance for North Korea. And international food aid, when provided, should be delivered properly. The international community needs to make steady, concerted efforts to secure transparency in distributing food to the North Korean people.

Food aid for North Korea could ease the suffering of starving North Koreans on humanitarian grounds and serve as the first step toward improving strained inter-Korean relations. But North Korea must bear in mind that thorough verification and transparency in food distribution must be guaranteed first.


[Interview] Defector Finds New Life as Accordion Player For many South Korean people, memories of the accordion have receded into the past. But former North Korean defector Cho Mi-young plays this musical instrument.

The accordion is as rich in sound as the piano. The performer plays the melody on the keys on the right-hand manual, and the chord and rhythms, on the left-hand manual. That is why this musical instrument can create similar sounds to the piano. The sounds of the accordion that are often heard at amusement parks are pretty exciting, while they are sometimes poignantly touching. It has both sad and cheerful tones. While playing the according, carrying it on my chest, it feels like I’m breathing in harmony with the instrument’s movements. That enables me to express very delicate feelings. What attracts me the most about the accordion is the rich tones it produces.

The accordion is played by compressing or expanding the bellows, producing uniquely sweet and sad melodies. The combination of the accordion and classical music is pretty common in foreign countries, but it is rare to see the musical instrument at an orchestra in South Korea since there aren’t many accordion performers here. Cho says the accordion, unlike other instruments, produces various sounds all by itself, with the performer’s right hand producing the melody and the left hand playing the chord or accompaniment. That is why she calls the accordion a “small orchestra.” She was fascinated by its charming sound for the first time when she was eight years old.

When I was a preschooler in North Korea, my mom bought me an accordion and encouraged me to play it. That was how I entered the music world. I was eight at the time. The accordion is a common musical instrument in North Korea. I remember I often saw accordion performers on TV. I would pretend to play the accordion by carrying my older brother’s bag on my chest even before I entered elementary school. My mom thought that it would be good for me to learn music and she allowed me to learn how to play the accordion.

In North Korea, the accordion is as common as the piano in South Korea. The music played on a minor chord is lyrical, while the tunes on a major chord sound heavy and serious, often agitating people. For that reason, the accordion is used to play marches in socialist states. Cho says that she heard the accordion sound frequently at construction sites or on farming fields in North Korea because it is easy to carry the accordion around and it produces a loud sound. In South Korea, however, she hadn’t played it for quite a while as there were few accordion performers here.

After I came to South Korea in June 2001, I majored in the Chinese language at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. I seldom thought of playing the accordion because it was uncommon to see the musical instrument here in South Korea. One day, I happened to participate in a children’s musical, which gave me an opportunity to play the accordion. So, I began to play it again, recalling my old memories. It was fun. I’ve been playing it since then.

In hopes of studying music, Cho quit her Chinese studies and entered the Applied Music Department at Seoul Institute of the Arts. She was the only person who majored in the accordion there, but her affection for music deepened while studying and mingling with performers of other musical instruments. After graduation, she played with the Chungcheong Provincial Orchestra and the Gyeonggi Global Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also engaged in various other music activities, participating in the making of the original sound track of films and soap operas. Her shoulders are often sore after playing the 14-kilogram accordion, especially when she presents several performances in a row. But she is eager to take up new challenges at the thought of helping many more people enjoy the charming sound of the accordion.

I’ve played the accordion for various genres of performance. Many spectators, who saw the musical instrument for the first time in their lives, were very curious about it. When I played old songs with the accordion, senior citizens loved them. My goal is to play the accordion for different genres of music and to become a jazz musician. This year, I’m planning on holding accordion concerts with traditional Korean music teams. Through this fusion style of music featuring the accordion, I hope to better express the touching sound of traditional Korean music.

Cho says the accordion gave her freedom and it has been her lifelong friend, allowing her to create something. Her challenge to explore a new genre continues, and her beautiful music will hopefully resound through the skies of her hometown in North Korea soon.