The Chosun Ilbo reports that South Korea has known for years that its food aid to North Korea was being diverted to front-line North Korean military units manning the DMZ, but said nothing about it:
South Korean military authorities have known since 2003, when the Roh Moo-hyun administration was inaugurated, that North Korea has transported rice supplied by the South for humanitarian purposes to frontline units of the North Korean Army. The South Korean military has admitted it found no fewer than 200 South Korean rice sacks transported to North Korean Army units on about 10 occasions to the demilitarized zone including Gangwon Province between 2003 and recently.
This is the first corroboration by the South Korean military of testimony by North Korean refugees that the food aid provided by South Korea is being diverted for military purposes. But despite their knowledge of this fact, neither the South Korean government nor military authorities protested to North Korea or asked it for an explanation, apparently for fear of provoking Pyongyang.
I know. I was shocked, too.
17 Comments
Why, I fell right out of my chair reading this, I did!
Wow, that’s horrible. But hearing this I wasn’t necessarily surprised - it is something North Korea would do. It’s just a really, really sad fact. More surprising was the fact that S. Korea did nothing about it.
The international aid community has known this for years. If Seoul wanted to help the poor in North Korea, it would be sending low-quality grains and not the sort of white rice that the North Korean elite wants to eat.
Agreed, anyone who follows N Korea has known this all along…. Not surprising at all. What I am surprised about is that Seoul has fessed up and admitted it.
I’m not sure if government officials leaking something to the Chosun Ilbo can be called “fessing up and admitting it.”
Since when did leaked information ever inspire any government official, in any country, automatically ensure a truthful response? E.g. President Clinton: I did not have sexual relations with that woman. Or how about Kim DJ’s payoff for his historic summit?
You’re kidding, right?
Now, I’m a pretty conservative guy, but Clinton’s non-truth about his dalliances in the White House is looking like a relatively minor lapse of honesty right about now…
whether or not the government “fessed up” or it was leaked, it’s still an acknowledgment of knowing, which should now make it easier for 2MB to let Soko stop taking in the ass all the time and give lend support to an actual and now very public reason to say “No” for once.
shocking, no. but a sign of things changing, maybe.
Anybody know the history of food aid to North Korea? I mean from other than fellow Communist countries of course.
Perhaps much too broad a question and I should merely ask about food aid from ROK to DPRK. What made me think of this question was wondering if the first instance of ROK food aid to the North preceded US food aid to DPRK, if so what year was it.
Surely it was long before the Roh administration? Don’t I remember that food aid had already started before the Clinton/Carter nuclear negotiations of 1994 (I think that was 94, going from memory w/o googling…)
It must have been quite a story when it first happened which is why I think someone might remember. Perhaps during the 1980’s?
It must have
“Foods feeds?”
I see that now Noh Mu-Hyun is out of office, Captain Obvious has made his return!
Isn’t this the reason international charity groups pulled out of NK? continued frustration that they weren’t allowed to help the people they were there to help, but rather had their efforts (and food aid) hijacked by the gov’t…
well well well what a surprise (sarcasm)
its well known fact that kim dae jung was a communist.
Well, perhaps S. Korea can divert thoese monies to rebuild the gate?
This is going right into my thesis
ho hum, the ROK government isn’t likely to let nK collapse any time soon. even if it means supporting them with food/financial aid that winds up going to the nKPA.
shock and surprise shouldn’t be your response to this. it’s just the way things are. until the KJI regime goes away, it’s going to continue to be this way.
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