wfn.org | PC(USA) Backs Food Aid to North Korea

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

12-February-1997 
97076 
 
             PC(USA) Backs Food Aid to North Korea;  
               Emergency Barley Crop to Be Planted 
 
                          by Alexa Smith 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-- Fifty thousand dollars from One Great Hour of Sharing 
funds have been earmarked to buy seed so that North Koreans may plant an 
emergency barley crop to stave off drastic food shortages in their country, 
according to Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) officials who were part of a 
recent National Council of Churches (NCC) delegation to North Korea. 
 
     The money is being given in response to an urgent appeal by Church 
World Service for $150,000 to ensure a barley harvest in North Korea by 
June, followed by a rice crop in the late summer.  The appeal is part of a 
$2 million international ecumenical effort on behalf of North Korea in 1997 
that is being coordinated by Action of Churches Together, the relief arm of 
the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation. 
 
     Church World Service, the humanitarian aid arm of the NCC, is 
appealing to its constituents to raise $500,000 of that amount, slightly 
over the total the NCC spent last year to send rice, beef, antibiotics, 
blankets and rehydration tablets to North Korea. 
 
     "The crisis is not easy to see," said Presbyterian Victor Hsu, who 
directs the NCC's East Asia/Pacific Office.  He said widespread starvation 
has been avoided so far only because of North Korea's efficient food 
distribution system, which allows the shortage to be absorbed by the 
country's entire 23 million population instead of just its poorest 
citizens.   "It is not as dramatic as the CNN images from Africa ... but if 
nothing massive is done soon, within the next half of the year we may see 
dramatic effects of the food shortage." 
 
     Church dollars will be funneled through the United Nations World Food 
Program, an emergency food agency that keeps monitors on the ground in 
cooperation with the Korean Christian Federation, North Korea's 
postdenominational Christian church. 
 
     Hsu said North Korea has implemented strict rationing since its rice 
crop was destroyed by hail in 1994 and then ruined by flooding in 1995 and 
1996. North Korea's large international debt limits the government's access 
to credit to buy and import food. 
 
     "From what we heard, there were reports that people are literally 
dropping dead from starvation and sickness," said the Rev. Syngman Rhee, 
associate director for ecumenical partnership in the PC(USA)'s Worldwide 
Ministries Division, who was one of three PC(USA) staff on the delegation. 
"And we saw people who were skinny, energyless, fatigued ... no sense of a 
spirit of joy." 
 
     The delegation faxed to New York from North Korea its request that the 
first $150,000 be used to buy barley seed for March planting. 
 
     The Rev. Dan Rift, the denomination's associate director for global 
service and witness, said that one flood relief official told the NCC 
delegation that if North Korea does not obtain more food, the results will 
be catastrophic.   
 
     "It [the food crisis] may not be easy for us to see from Pyongyang 
[North Korea's capital] and it may not be easy for the international 
community to see on television," said Rift, referring to how North Korea 
has coped with ongoing food and energy shortages for the past few years. 
"But it is clear that people are already starving," he insisted.  "The 
World Food Program is [saying] North Korea has the worst food shortage of 
any place in the world." 
 
     Rift said PC(USA) relief is geared to both support the Christian 
community in North Korea that is asking for international help for the 
first time and to provide a visible Christian witness to North Koreans in a 
time of deep need.  He said bags of rice for the relief effort have "Korea 
Christian Federation" printed on the sides.  "The faithful remnant of the 
Christian community before the Korean War and new believers make up the 
church now.  For us the question becomes: How do we enable them to be a 
witness in their own context?" 
 
     According to Rhee, the current government ration is about 200-400 
grams of food daily per person.  It takes 600 grams of food daily to meet 
minimum standards for nourishment in normal conditions, even more in the 
now below-freezing winter temperatures.  "They're getting about one-third 
of the nourishment they need," Rhee said, adding that the situation is 
complicated by frequent power outages due to North Korea's concurrent 
energy crisis.  
 
      He said churches in South Korea are backing relief efforts through 
international ecumenical channels. 
 
     "Because of our historic stance against North Korea, and because of 
our history of war, it is hard for us to imagine now ... [feeding] those 
who had been considered our enemies," said Rift.  "But that's the biblical 
challenge." 
 
     Rift said he saw people foraging in fields along the roadsides, 
looking for roots and grass to use for fuel or for food.  Others, he said, 
were gathering wood to burn as fuel.   
 
     Account #9-2000122 has been established by Presbyterian Disaster 
Assistance to receive contributions for North Korean flood relief. 
Donations designated for that account may be sent to Central Receiving 
Service, 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, KY 40202-1396. 

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