[NEWS FOCUS] Debate simmers over NK flood aid

With North Korea reeling from the worst floods in decades, debate is heating up here as to whether Seoul should provide humanitarian relief despite heightened tension following Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test.

The North’s state media has said the floods caused by recent torrential rains in the country’s north had forced nearly 70,000 to flee their homes, calling it the “worst disaster” since its 1945 liberation. A UN agency tallied the casualties as at least 138 deaths and 400 vanishings.

To help alleviate the calamity, a growing number of South Korean politicians, experts and activists are raising the need to offer food, medical and other aids. 

The Korea NGO Council for Cooperation with North Korea, an association of 59 relief groups here, has submitted a request to the Ministry of Unification to approve their plans to meet and deliver supplies to North Koreans.

Seoul remains skeptical, however, given the grave political situation after Pyongyang’s fifth atomic experiment on Sept. 9. It is currently pushing for a fresh round of crippling sanctions at the UN Security Council.

“We have not received any request (for assistance) from North Korea so far, and it is unlikely for them to make one in the future,” ministry spokesperson Jeong Joon-hee said at a news briefing Monday.

“Even if they do, I think the chances are quite low it will take place under the current circumstances.”

He blasted the Kim Jong-un regime for pressing ahead with provocations even as the country suffers from the natural disaster.

“Such an enormous amount of money and efforts were supposed to have been spent for the people’s livelihoods and recovery from the flood damage, not the nuclear test,” Jeong added, referencing the maxim “God helps those who help themselves” to stress the regime’s culpability.

South Korean individuals and entities are required to seek the ministry’s approval to visit North Korea or make contact with its nationals. But the government has not given the green light, as it has virtually severed all formal and civilian exchanges and aid programs since the communist state’s fourth underground blast on Jan. 6.

Seoul’s stance also reflects soured public sentiment following the latest explosion, as well as concerns the regime may siphon off any outside handouts for military and other undesirable uses.

Military tension aside, critics say the across-the-board halt further confuses the Park Geun-hye administration’s about-face in its own principle that humanitarian assistance should carry on regardless of political ups and downs.

The president reaffirmed that notion through a speech in the former East German city of Dresden in March 2014, vowing to expand humanitarian assistance as a key component of her vision of a “trust-building process.”

“The fundamental basis regarding humanitarian support largely remains unchanged, but in carrying out such a program we also need to take into account the North’s continuous provocations and defiance of the international community’s denuclearization demands,” a Seoul official said.

But another diplomatic source voiced the need for flood relief in a display of engagement with the North Korean people. “While intensifying pressure on the leadership, it’s imperative to deliver a different message to the ordinary citizens that we will embrace and help them now and after unification as well.”

Opposition lawmakers also relayed calls for a two-track approach in dealing with the regime and rank-and-file citizens, warning of further damage with Typhoon Malakas inching closer to the peninsula after devastating Taiwan.

“We can no longer delay government and civilian support from the humanitarian standpoint,” Rep. Woo sang-ho, the main opposition The Minjoo Party of Korea’s floor leader, said at a meeting of senior party members earlier in the day.

“We should separately handle the North Korean authorities and the suffering people.”

Rep. Joo Seung-yong of the minor opposition People’s Party echoed the view.

“We need to explore the path for dialogue through humanitarian aid like flood relief,” he said while presiding over a separate party conference in place of interim chief Rep. Park Jie-won, who was visiting the US, calling for a “stick-and-carrot strategy.” 

By Shin Hyon-hee(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)