wfn.org | UMCOR sends aid to North Korea

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SEARCH: North Korea, famine, UMCOR, aid

CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                         213(10-21-71){2859}
          New York (212) 870-3803                   April 9, 1996

UMCOR shipments to help with
food shortage in North Korea

                by United Methodist News Service

     To help alleviate severe food shortages in North Korea, the
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has received a U.S.
Department of Commerce license to ship $100,000 worth of
humanitarian supplies.
     North Korea had made an "unprecedented appeal" for
assistance to United Nations agencies and the world community
after rain and typhoon damage destroyed crops last July and
August, according to the Rev. Michael Hahm, an executive with the
United Methodist Board of Global Ministries' World Division.
     But the overall response to that country's appeal has fallen
short, said Hahm, who visited North Korea for a week in March.
"It's a desperate situation at the moment."
     UMCOR's license would allow it to ship such items as rice,
milk powder, clothing, blankets and shoes. Donations are being
accepted through UMCOR's Emergency Advance No. 226435-0.
     Hahm said Korean-American United Methodist congregations
have raised about $22,000 for UMCOR's emergency appeal, but added
he would like to see donations from other congregations as well. 
     The staple foods in North Korea are rice and corn,
supplemented by beans and potatoes. Even before the damaging
weather last summer, harvests had declined steeply between 1989
and 1994, according to Hahm, due to various economic,
environmental and weather-related situations.
     The severe food shortage has been confirmed by several
outside agencies. "There is no dispute over the fact that North
Korea faces a serious food grain deficit of about 3.5 million
tons between now and the next harvest in October 1996," Hahm
said.
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