North Korean Economy Watch

Yonhap
Byun Duk-kun
8/23/2006

The number of North Korean defectors coming to South Korea increased by nearly 60 percent in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period of last year, the Unification Ministry said Wednesday.

A total of 1,054 North Koreans have come to the country as of the end of July, up 59 percent from a year ago, the ministry said in a report. Apparently hundreds more are waiting to find their way here, it said.

Earlier reports said a group of 175 North Koreans were rounded up by Thai police on suspicion of illegal immigration Tuesday, only hours before they were to board a passenger jet flying to South Korea.

The chief of the Thai police’s immigration bureau, Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul, was quoted as saying the North Koreans would be prosecuted, but would be detained “on a humanitarian basis” until they leave the country since they are seeking refuge in third countries.

The number of North Koreans coming to the South has steadily increased since the late 1990s with more than 100 finding their way here in 1999 for the first time since the end of 1950-53 Korean War.

The number increased to 1,139, breaking the 1,000 mark for the first time, in 2002, and rose to 1,281 in 2003 and 1,894 a year later.

International relief agencies, however, believe as many as 100,000 North Koreans may still be hiding in other countries, mostly in China, while civic organizations working to help the North Koreans put the number at 300,000 in China alone.

With no relatives or jobs in China, most of the North Korean defectors live in extreme destitution, usually making a living by begging. The Chinese government refuses to recognize them as refugees and regularly rounds them up and sends them back to their communist homeland where they are reportedly tortured, prosecuted and often executed.

The South Korean government says it will accept any North Koreans coming to the country, but cannot encourage or support their defection because of its relations with the North, as well as with other countries, which are used as stopovers for North Korean defectors.

Beijing is bound by a written agreement with Pyongyang to repatriate any North Koreans in its custody, according to government officials.

North and South Korea remain divided along a heavily-fortified border since the fratricidal Korean War (1950-53).

Defection through the inter-Korean border is not unprecedented, but is nearly impossible with nearly 70 percent of some 1.8 million troops on both sides standing guard within a radius of a few kilometers from the border.

Relations between the divided Koreas significantly warmed up following a historic meeting of their leaders in the North Korean capital in 2000.

The two, however, still remain technically in a state of war as the Korean War ended with an armistice agreement, not a peace treaty.

Korea Times
Lee Jin-woo
8/23/2006

The Ministry of Unification will begin providing financial support to South Korean humanitarian aid groups, which have sent, or have plans to send, flood relief materials for North Korean victims beginning early next month.

“The ministry plans to use the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to meet the amount of contribution made by local private relief organizations under a matching fund system,” said a ministry official. “Up to 10 billion won ($10.5 million) will be subsidized for those civic groups beginning early next month.”

Once the group of those 23 South Korean organizations-which have sent or considered sending flood relief material to the communist state-submits a list of purchased aid goods, the ministry will reimburse half of the total costs, he said.

“In order to find out what North Korean victims need most urgently, we will have a working-level meeting with North Korean counterparts on Aug. 31,’’ said Shin Myung-chul, an official belonging to the group. He added civic groups are likely to purchase mostly flour and clothes as well as other necessities, but will exclude rice and other emergency relief supplies to be provided by the government through the South’s Korean National Red Cross (KNRC).

After a meeting between Red Cross officials from South and North Korea at Mt. Kumgang in the North on Saturday, the ministry announced its plan to send 100,000 tons of rice, and construction supplies and equipment to North Korea by the end of this month to help repair damages from recent flooding despite chilly inter-Korean relations after the North’s July 5 missile launches.

Vice Unification Minister Shin Un-sang told reporters on Sunday the rice aid would cost some 195 billion won ($203 million), and the shipment would also include some 26 billion won worth of construction supplies and equipment, including 100,000 tons of cement, 5,000 tons of steel and 100 trucks.

But the ministry has made it clear that the one-time aid package is unrelated to government’s periodic aid provided annually to the North that has been abruptly halted due to the missile threat.

Who ever would have thought that the North Koreans would find a way to make money off the Dokdo Island controversy.  Entrepreneurship is alive and well in the DPRK?

From the Korea Times:

NK Dokdo Stamp for Sale in S. Korea

A South Korean distributor began receiving orders this week for postage stamps featuring a set of South Korean islets in the East Sea printed by North Korea, in an apparent protest against Japan’s continued claim to the islets, the distributor said Friday.

The South Korean company said it is receiving orders for sets of nine stamps priced at 18,000 won ($19), through its Web site, www.dprkpost.com, until Sept. 2.

The stamps are to be imported by a Hong Kong contractor to the communist state, Ko Sun Film Video Trading Co., Ltd

From the New York Times:
8/17/2006

Floods Claim Huge Toll in North Korea, Group Says
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEOUL, South Korea- A South Korean aid group said Wednesday that 54,700 people were dead or missing after huge floods in North Korea last month and that as many as 2.5 million people had been left homeless.

The figure is by far the highest toll reported from floods that hit North Korea in mid-July.

The private aid agency Good Friends, based in Seoul, said it had “many sources” inside North Korea but did not say where it had obtained the information. The toll could not be independently confirmed because North Korea tightly controls the news media and information.

The aid group’s previous reports on activities inside North Korea have been confirmed by South Korean government sources, although some of its figures have been disputed.

North Korea’s official news media have reported that “hundreds” were killed by the floods, without giving specific numbers.

The Choson Sinbo, a newspaper published in Japan by a pro-North Korean association linked to the government, said this month that the floods had killed at least 549 people and that 295 more were missing.

Officials with South Korea’s Red Cross, the South Korean Unification Ministry, North Korea’s economic cooperation office in Beijing and other agencies could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Representatives of Good Friends refused to elaborate on their report, saying they feared their sources would face reprisals.

The group said the floods had destroyed more than 230 bridges and inundated hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, further straining North Korea’s ability to feed its population. North Korea has relied on foreign food donations since the mid-1990’s, when famine caused by natural disasters and decades of mismanagement is believed to have killed up to two million people.

“Food prices are skyrocketing as food distribution has become nearly impossible” as a result of the floods, the aid group said.

The group also contended that North Korea, to curb possible unrest, prevented those left homeless by the floods from traveling.

A South Korean citizens’ group said last week that North Korea had requested help from South Korea to cope with the devastation from the floods.

From Yonhap:

Flood damage in N. Korea seems lesser than previously estimated:official
8/10/2006

Recent floods in impoverished North Korea resulted in a loss of large amounts of food, but the loss may not be as great as previously estimated by domestic and international relief agencies, a government official said Thursday.

The claim comes amid efforts by South Korea’s pro-unification and other civic organizations to put together large amounts of emergency relief aid for flood victims in the North.

International relief agencies working with the communist state, such as the World Food Program and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Crescent Societies, had previously estimated that some 30,000 hectares of farmland was either submerged or destroyed due to last month’s heavy rains in the North, leading to the loss of some 100,000 tons of food.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government, too, depends on the reports, or estimates, by the international agencies to estimate damage in the North, but said a thorough analysis of the reports showed a significantly smaller loss of food than estimated.

“(The government) believes damage to 20,000 to 30,000 hectares of arable land in the North would lead to the loss of some 32,000 tons of crops,” the official said.

The official said the discrepancy comes because the international organizations assumed the worst.

“I believe the WFP’s estimate was based on an assumption that no crops would be produced from any of the affected farmland,” the official said.

“A close analysis and consultation with experts showed the North’s loss of food would come to about 30 percent of the WFP estimate,” the official added.

The new estimate, or claim, by the government is expected to affect the South’s expected decision on the size and composition of its assistance for the flood-hit North as the government continues to suspend its regular aid for the communist state.

Seoul suspended its humanitarian aid for the communist North, which includes rice and fertilizer, shortly after Pyongyang test-fired seven mid- and long-range missiles into the East Sea on July 5.

Officials at the Unification Ministry say the government is unlikely to remove or loosen its suspension of rice and fertilizer shipments to the North until the latter returns to international negotiations over its nuclear weapons program and announces resumption of its self-imposed moratorium on missile tests.

Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, Seoul’s highest official on North Korea, held a meeting with the head of the country’s National Red Cross on Thursday to discuss a possible inclusion of food, mainly rice, in a Red Cross aid package for the North.

Ministry officials said the provision of rice, if made, would only be a one-time assistance to help relieve the suffering of flood victims and will not lead to a resumption of regular aid shipments.  

From the BBC:

North Korea flooding ‘kills 549′
8/7/2006

At least 549 people died and another 295 are still missing as a result of floods which struck North Korea last month, a pro-Pyongyang daily said.

ays of heavy rain caused flooding which North Korean media have already confirmed led to “hundreds” of deaths.

But the figures, from the Japan-based daily, are the most specific released so far on the extent of the disaster.

Last month, the UN food agency estimated that about 60,000 people had been left homeless by the flooding.

The Choson Shinbo newspaper is based in Japan and is run by a pro-North Korea association.

Over 7,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, the daily said, and almost 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) of farmland had been washed away.

“Recovery efforts are proceeding at rapid speed as relief supplies are being sent to the afflicted areas,” the daily said on its web site.

Secretive

In South Korea, opposition Grand National Party leader Kang Jae-sup urged that a fact-finding mission be sent to the North to determine the full extent of the damage there, Yonhap news agency reported.

One activists’ group has suggested that the number of dead or missing is as high as 10,000, but has not said where it obtained the information.

North Korea is secretive about releasing details of accidents or natural disasters, making any confirmation of the extent of the flooding difficult.

But Pyongyang has cancelled a mass gymnastics display, called Arirang, which is a key source of income for the nation, to focus, it says, on recovering from the floods.

North Korea has refused offers from international agencies to launch appeals on its behalf, but an official said last week that Pyongyang would accept aid from the South if it came with no strings attached.

South Korea has suspended food aid to the North because of concerns over deadlocked talks on its nuclear programme and Pyongyang’s recent missile tests.

From the Associated Press

Up to 10,000 casualties in North Korea flooding: aid group
8/2/2006

Up to 10,000 North Koreans are believed dead or missing in what Pyongyang’s official media is describing as the worst flooding in a century, a respected South Korean humanitarian group said.

“About 4,000 people are now listed as missing, and we expect the final toll of dead and missing to reach 10,000,” said the independent aid group Good Friends.

North Korea’s official media has so far admitted that hundreds of people were dead or missing after the country was battered by heavy rainfall for nearly two weeks from July 10.

Seoul-based Good Friends said the media was now terming the flooding as the worst to hit the impoverished country in a century.

from Yonhap:

More S. Korean relief goods head to flood-hit N. Korea

A freighter left for North Korea Wednesday with tons of flour, instant noodles and other relief goods for flood victims in North Korea, South Korean aid groups said.

The total value of the shipment was not officially disclosed, but the donations included 60 tons of flour, 1,300 boxes of instant noodles and medical supplies, they said.

The shipment, the third of its kind since early this month, comes as the South Korean government, through its Red Cross, is planning large-scale relief aid for North Korea which suffered heavy human losses and property damages in rain-caused floods in mid-July.

There has been no official North Korean announcement on its rain damages but international workers there reported that several hundred people were killed or missing. Crop damages are expected to be 100,000 tons, they said.

South Korean aid workers said their shipment Wednesday will arrive at the North’s western port of Nampo in a day or two.

They said they were planning more shipment in the near future.

Donors for Wednesday’s shipment included the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, the Korean Foundation for World Aid and the Council of Civic Groups for North Korean Aid.

Angered by North Korea’s defiant missile launches on July 5, South Korea has officially stopped food aid for its impoverished communist neighbor but it has recently relented, saying that it could contribute to civilian relief activities.

South Korean Red Cross officials have indicated that their planned aid package would include 100,000 tons of rice and an unspecified amount of construction equipment.

Concerns have risen over the possibility of a new famine in North Korea like the one that hit the country in the 1990s, which reportedly left millions of people dead.     

From the Daily NK:

Pyongyang Residents Secretly Watch KBS 9pm News
“On the Second-Hand TVs Imported from Japan” 
By Kwon Jeong Hyun, Dandong of China
8/14/2006

It was found that Pyongyang residents in North Korea have secretly watched KBS 1 TV on high-fidelity receivers smuggled from China and TVs made in Japan.

The North Korean government has prohibited the North Korean people from watching South Korean TV programs. In order to prevent TV or radio waves from South Korea, it has done blanketing. Yet, it has been know that such control have not prevent the North Korean people from secretly watching KBS 1TV programs including 9pm News, and rather such trend has been spreading all over Pyongyang.

On the 30th last month, Kim Jin Ho(pseudonym, 42) staying in China to see his relatives said that, “Receivers smuggled through trucks from China are sold at 120 to 150 yuans (45,000 to 56,000 won of North Korea)at Jangmadangs “, adding “Quiet many people watch South Korean TV programs in Pyongyang”.

Kim told that, “Because of control of the government, people can not see soap dramas. They just usually watch 9pm news to know the trends of the world”, and “Family members and friends talk about them together”.

Kim said that receivers to receive the South Korean TV programs are 3m high and have two-edged looked like bones of fish. Kim said he is watching through the receivers only at night. The receivers are called ‘yagi receiver’, which are usually used as territory receivers. Given that the yagi receivers that have been used in the 70’s and 80’s are impossible for satellite broadcasting, people have received KBS program waves over the truce line.

Park Gi Chang(pseudonym, 34) from Pyongsung, South Pyongan province, said that, “Now if one does not know the trends of the outside world, he or she can not join the conversation” and “We can know about what the North Korean government did”. However, Park said that because of the strict control of the government, we have to be careful.”

Park said that, “I have watched KBS programs on a receiver purchased at Jangmadang after I saw my relatives seeing the programs in Pyongyang.”

Because North Korean TV standard is PAL(Phase Alternating Line) different from NTSC(National Television System Committee), we can not still see the South Korean program on the North Korean TVs. Seeing South Korean programs is possible only on the TVs made in Japan and China. Japanese TV standard is NTSC.

In addition, recently it was known that PAL and NTSC TVs are imported from China and Japan.

North Korean has imported TVs made in Hitachi, Japan since the 80’s in bulk. Some second-hand TVs had often been imported into North Korean, which were replaced by receivers only for North Korea.

A staff in charge of KBS broadcasting transmission said that, “No-person head end or transmission tops around the truce line area send electronic waves, which are possible to reach at Pyongyang”, and “it is surprising that we do not send electronic waves toward North Korea. But Pyongyang residents have received them”.

A researcher at a electronic waves research center under the Ministry of Information and Communication stated that, “Generally, waves sent towards Seoul reach at Cheonan or even Dangjin, the nearly southernmost part of S.Korea”, and “given the nature of waves, North Korea can not prevent the waves from South Korea”.

Kim Gi Hyuk, defector Producer of Free North Korea Broadcasting, said that, “I can remember that in Hoicheon, South Pyongan province, I watched a news announcing that Hwang Jang Yop came to South Korean as a political asylum, and saw a South Korean car advertisement through the receiver”, and “on the rainy day, the waves were better caught in the receivers”.

A staff of VideoLap, a video specialized company, said that, “If TVs’ standard is PAL, screens turn into black so we can not totally watch programs. However, sometimes the TVs work well”.

A government official briefly mentioned, “I heard that some North Korean people watch South Korean TV programs”.

The North Korean people have gotten world news on the broadcastings such as RFA or Korean Social education broadcasting. Furthermore, VCD and TV programs have been spreading. It has made the North Korean people free from informational isolation of the past.

North Welcomes Aid
Korea Times 
8/4/2006

North Korea’s Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Committee took a positive stance yesterday toward accepting humanitarian aid from South Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported.

“There’s no reason for us to reject flood relief from the South as long as it’s not politically motivated,” Kim Song-won, head of the committee said from Dandong, China.

The remark is the first positive comment from a North Korean official on flood relief from the South amid chilly inter-Korean relations following last month’s missile threats.

Hyundai to Deliver Aid for NK Flood Victims
Korea Times
8.8.2006

Hyundai Asan, a South Korean company in charge of North Korean business projects, said Tuesday it will send relief goods to victims of flooding near a scenic mountain on the southeastern coast of the communist country.

From Wednesday to Saturday, Hyundai Asan will deliver 500 tons of cement and 200 tons of flour, worth about 100 million won ($104,000), by trucks across the inter-Korean border for North Korean victims in the inner part of Mount Kumgang, the company said. It would be the second relief delivery from South Korea after North Korea was devastated by torrential rains late last month.

On Monday, a pro-North Korea newspaper in Japan, the Chosun Sinbo, reported at least 549 North Koreans were killed and 295 others missing, hit by floods last month.

The casualty figures were seen as the highest so far in North Korea, one of the world’s most isolated nations. y

North wants aid, just not those noodles
Joong Ang Daily
8/10/2006
 
August 10, 2006 ㅡ North Korea formally asked South Korean civic groups for humanitarian aid for its flood victims ― but it doesn’t want instant noodles.

The country said it does want construction materials, construction equipment, blankets and medicine, according to a fax sent from the communist country to a South Korean civic group. The message was the first formal request from the North seeking aid. The North Korean Committee for Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration sent the message to its South Korean counterpart yesterday, thanking the civic groups here for helping the North’s flood victims. In the message, North Korea specified what they prefer to be included in the aid package. Instant noodles and clothes were singled out as less-wanted items.

The South Korean committee will meet with its North Korean counterpart tomorrow at the Mount Kumgang resort to further discuss assistance. The South Korean committee has launched a fundraising drive for North Korean flood victims. Aid packages by some civic groups have already been sent to the North, and more were on their way yesterday from Incheon.

Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok is scheduled to meet today with Han Wan-sang, South Korea’s Red Cross chief, to discuss the government’s flood relief program for the North. Floor leaders of the five political parties will also meet today to discuss the aid to the North. 

Government to give aid, rice, to the North
Joong Ang Daily
8/11/2006

After consultation with the South Korean Red Cross, the government has agreed to provide an aid package including rice to help North Korean flood victims, a Unification Ministry official said yesterday. The government will announce today its official participation in an emergency relief program for the North, led by the Red Cross and civic groups here.

After the North fired seven missiles last month, the South withheld its previously promised rice and fertilizer aid in protest.

In his meeting with Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, South Korea’s Red Cross president, Han Wan-sang, asked the government to help send goods to benefit North Korean flood victims. Mr. Han said rice and construction materials are such items. Mr. Lee agreed to that proposal.

The government and the Red Cross will discuss further the shipment schedule and amount of aid.

Mr. Han was quoted by Yonhap News Agency yesterday as saying the aid package will be prepared by the end of next week.

Floor leaders of political parties, including the conservative Grand Nationals, also met yesterday to discuss the need for humanitarian aid to the North. They encouraged the government to send food, medicines and construction materials. A Grand National Party spokesman said that the food aid should include rice, although strict monitoring should follow to make sure the grain is provided to flood victims in urgent need.

The governing and ruling parties also agreed to approve a supplementary budget for the aid if necessary.

Seoul offers W10b in aid to N. Korea
Korea Herald
8/12/2006

South Korea will contribute 10 billion won ($10.5 million) to civilian relief efforts for flood-hit North Korea, an official said yesterday.

The contribution is part of an aid package that Seoul plans to give to the North, reversing an earlier decision to suspend aid in protest against the North’s missile launches last month.

Besides the contribution, the South also plans to ship official aid supplies to the North via the Red Cross.

The decision came at a policy coordination meeting between the government and the governing Uri Party, which was attended by Seoul’s point man on North Korean affairs, Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, as well as Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook.

Earlier this week, North Korea asked for help from the South to recover from devastating floods in mid-July that left at least 549 people dead and 295 missing.

The North had previously refused South Korean aid from the Red Cross, saying it would take care of the problem itself.

The Unification Ministry is to allocate the money from its inter-Korean cooperation fund, which will be used to match the funds raised by each civic organization, the ruling party official said.

A ministry official said civic organizations have so far raised over 9.8 billion won in funds and goods. Other ministry officials said the fund will be used to purchase emergency relief aid, such as rice, flour, medicine and equipment.

The government held a meeting with civic organizations yesterday to decide on the size of its support for each civic organization.

The ministry and the South Korean Red Cross agreed Thursday to provide large amounts of assistance, mainly rice, that would be “substantial enough” to help flood-hit North Korea, according to Red Cross chief Han Wan-sang.

Rep. Noh Woong-rae, a vice floor leader of the ruling Uri Party, hinted Friday that the Red Cross aid may amount to more than 70 billion won worth of goods.

“(The government) gave 70 billion won worth of support (to the North) through its Red Cross when the Ryongchon incident” took place, Noh said, referring to an explosion at a train station in a North Korean town bordering China in April 2004, which left over 160 people killed and thousands injured.

“This (the previous amount) would be considered in determining the size of its aid, but the fact that the size of the (flood-affected) area is so large this time will be considered,” he said.

South Korea has been cautious in providing assistance to the North because of its no-aid pledge over the missile crisis.

But growing public calls for aid to the North have emboldened the government. The country’s main opposition party, which has been skeptical of aid provisions to the communist state, has also been supportive of emergency aid to the North.

The aid decision boosted hopes for an improvement in inter-Korean relations, which chilled after North Korea strongly protested Seoul’s decision to halt rice and fertilizer supplies until the North resolves concerns over its missile and nuclear programs.

North Korea is one of the poorest countries in the world after natural disasters and mismanagement devastated its economy in the mid-1990s. The country relies on foreign assistance to feed its 23 million people.

From the Korea Times:

Elusive Welcome Mat
By Andrei Lankov
 
It is believed that some 40,000 to 80,000 North Koreans live in Northeast China, earning money through unskilled work, or living with their Chinese partners. Some five years ago, their number was much greater _ perhaps, up to 250,000.

At first sight, defection to South Korea would be the most logical next step for these people. After all, the South Korean Constitution does not recognize the existence of North Korean state, thus every North Korean is, by definition, a citizen of the Republic of Korea (ROK), eligible to special rights and protection. However, such defections are rare _ only a few thousand North Koreans have move to the South over the last few years. Why?

The major reason is the unwillingness of the South Korean government to help refugees gain safe conduct to Korea. When a refugee manages to contact the South Korean embassy or consulate in China, he or she does not find support there. Those who have relatives in the South can use the expensive services of people smugglers (at least, $5,000 up front), but the majority have no chance to get to the South without some official support _ and this support is not forthcoming.

Among those who have been denied assistance there have even been some who would have been seen as god-given propaganda gifts 10 or 15 years ago. In 1996, for example, the South Korean Embassy in Beijing was visited by a family of six whose father, an exemplary “shock worker,’’ was once granted a rare honour _ to have his picture taken with Kim Il-sung himself. The diplomats advised the family that they were unable to do anything for them and wished the would-be defectors good luck. But they had no such luck _ they were arrested, deported back to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and severely punished. A 36-year-old military officer from an elite security unit fled to China in 1996. He spent 1996-2002 repeatedly applying for permission to move to the South. He contacted the South Korean Embassy a number of times but every time the diplomats advised him “be patient and wait.’’

A defector once told a South Korean journalist: “When I first fled the North I thought that it would be easy to go to South Korea. With the help of ethnic Koreans I arrived in Qingdao [China] in August 1996. But at the Korean Consulate, on which I had pinned all my hopes, [I] was told: ‘Under the present circumstances, this is difficult.’ [I felt like] the heavens collapsed.’’

Only those who represent an exceptional propaganda value (or have had access to very important intelligence) can count on official assistance these days.

Are you going to have an outburst of righteous disgust about “heartless Seoul bureaucrats?’’ Alas, it is not that easy. There are good reasons why the South Korean officials act in such a way…

First of all, the ROK does not wish to create problems with China, which carefully maintains its neutrality in the Korean conflict and does not wish to become a transition zone for crowds of refugees heading for Seoul. South Korean officials are also wary of ethnic Koreans from China who might try to pass themselves off as North Koreans to get access to ROK citizenship.

Admittedly, those refugees who manage to cross the border again, and reach the South Korean missions in South East Asia might count on better treatment and help. But the way across China is expensive and dangerous, especially since the Chinese police are on the lookout for likely refugees from North Korea.

Nevertheless, it appears that the major reason behind Seoul’s passivity is not a set of diplomatic calculations but a tacit understanding that refugees _ largely uneducated peasants _ have little hope of adjusting to South Korean society. Indeed, the defectors seldom fare well in the South _ in spite of the generous if recently curtailed aid packages. Encouraging defection would entail a great increase in spending on the already large aid programs.

In addition, Seoul does not want to destabilize its ex-enemy. A large-scale exodus of North Koreans to the South would likely cause a serious political crisis in Pyongyang. This is exactly the scenario that South Korean diplomacy strives to prevent: in recent years the notion of “German-type unification’’ is seen as a nightmare, to be avoided at all costs. Economic considerations play a major role, but one should not forget the remote but real chance that a cornered Pyongyang would start a new Korean War as a last resort.

Are these considerations sufficient enough to justify inaction? Frankly, I do not know. Alas, in real life people often have to make difficult choices between two evils, and attempts to present such choices in black-and-white are likely to lead to more tragedies. Seoul’s policy toward the North in the recent decade has been a basket of choices between bad and worse _ even though politicians were wise enough not to call a spade a spade, guarding the feelings of the majority who prefer to comfortably see the world in black and white. But that is another story…

From Joong Ang Daily:

North sends upbeat note on inter-Korean projects
8/7/2006

North Korea has reaffirmed its commitment toward inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, a South Korean operator of an inter-Korean business project said yesterday.

“We are confident that ongoing inter-Korean economic cooperation projects such as the Mount Kumgang tours will produce new meaningful results,” the North’s Asia Pacific Peace Committee said in a letter to Hyundai Asan Corporation, the operator of a tour program to Mount Kumgang.

The North sent the letter on Tuesday, marking the third anniversary on Friday of the death of Chung Mong-hun, the late chairman of Hyundai Asan, an arm of Hyundai Group in charge of various business projects in the communist country.

Mr. Chung committed suicide in 2003 after being interrogated by prosecutors about slush funds he allegedly provided to politicians to promote his company’s North Korea business projects, including an inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean border town of Kaesong.

It is the first time that Pyongyang expressed its stance toward inter-Korean economic cooperation projects currently underway since it launched missiles in early July.

There have been concerns that inter-Korean cooperation efforts may hit a snag after the test-launches. In response, the South suspended humanitarian aid, including fertilizer aid. The North reacted by halting reunion events for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, and also suspended the construction of a 12-story reunion center at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North’s east coast. More than 1 million South Koreans have visited since the resort was launched in 1998.

Far fewer South Koreans visited the scenic mountain resort last month, according to Hyundai Asan. The number of people taking the cross-border tour in July dropped 43 percent compared with the same period last year. A total of 19,605 people traveled there last month, according to the company. 

From Yonhap:
8/4/2006

S. Korean drug companies to send medical aid to N. Korea

SEOUL– An association of South Korean drug companies said Friday that it will send medical supplies to flood-devastated North Korea.

Torrential rains pounded the communist country in mid-July, leaving hundreds of people killed or missing, according to United Nations and other international aid workers operating in the country. The floods also wiped out arable land that could lead to the loss of 100,000 tons of crops, they said.

From Joong Ang Daily:

With bipartisan nod, Seoul to fund NGO flood aid
8/5/2006

Prompted by bipartisan recommendations from political parties that the government should send medicines and emergency food to flood victims in the North, a government official said yesterday it will provide financial support upon request for humanitarian assistance projects by non-governmental groups.

“The Grand National and the Democratic Labor parties said [Thursday] that humanitarian aid programs should resume, and we welcome such a position,” Uri Party chairman Kim Geun-tae said yesterday. “Humanitarian aid to the North must not be blocked by politics.” He urged the government to resume its humanitarian aid to the North unconditionally.

After North Korea fired seven missiles and refused discussions about the launch with the South last month, Seoul withheld previously promised rice and fertilizer aid in protest.

A senior Unification Ministry official said yesterday that the government would participate in the provision of relief goods to help North Korean flood victims through non-governmental groups. The Roh Moo-hyun administration is seriously considering funding relief groups when they seek government help.

“We believe that civic groups will make their requests for help next week,” the official said. “Because it is an emergency relief program, the government will participate.”

The non-governmental groups’ aid package includes rice, and the government is expected to fund the food in the aid package. The Grand Nationals, however, said earlier that relief food to the North should not include rice.

While no accurate flood damage assessment in the North is available, the Food and Agricultural Organization said yesterday that torrential rains in July flooded about 5,000 hectares (19.3 square miles), or 2 percent of the farmland in North Korea, adding that the country, which was still recovering from years of famine, lost about 1,000 tons of corn and beans from the disaster.

A spokesman for an alliance of South Korean civic groups, the South Korean Committee for Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration, said its delegation may be able to get more accurate information about the flood damage by next week. Committee members will meet with their North Korean counterparts at the Mount Kumgang resort on Friday to discuss the canceled inter-Korean celebration of Liberation Day, the Aug. 15 anniversary of Japan’s surrender in 1945. The North called it off earlier this week, citing severe flood damage. At the meeting, the two sides are expected to talk about humanitarian aid for flood victims.

Meanwhile, the flood disaster in the North rang alarm bells in the South about the potential for an epidemic as the number of patients with malaria in the North reportedly increased after last month’s flooding. Earlier this month, a South Korean activist group, Good Friends, said that an increasing number of malaria patients have been found in Kaesong and Haeju in the North after the flood.

The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention said mosquitoes could fly from North Korea to South Korean regions near the Demilitarized Zone. According to the center’s data from January to June, 333 patients with malaria were reported to the center, up 47 percent from 226 patients in the same period last year. The western parts of the DMZ, Gimpo and Paju in Gyeonggi province and Ganghwa in Incheon, are likely to be infested by malaria mosquitoes, flying up to 18 kilometers from Kaesong, Jangpyong, and Tosan in North Korea, the center said.