wfn.org | DELEGAT'N PREDICTS FAMINE NRTH. KOREA

[KAREN_WALKER.parti@ecunet.org]

September 20, 1996
THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA

For Immediate Release                            Friday, September 20, 1996

                  CHURCH DELEGATION PREDICTS FAMINE IN
                NORTH KOREA WORSE THAN ETHIOPIA IN 1983/1984

TORONTO: "What we have witnessed in North Korea is a famine in-waiting,"
says Nan Hudson, Area Secretary for East Asia for The United Church of
Canada.

Widespread flooding both this summer and last devastated food stocks,
crops, dams and irrigation systems, leaving the North Korean people
desperately short of food and prompting the North Korean government
to make an unprecedented appeal for international assistance, explains
Hudson.

Hudson traveled to North Korea (The Democratic People's Republic
of Korea or DPRK) in late August with a church delegation from the
Canadian Foodgrains Bank.  The purpose of the trip was three-fold---to
increase the churches' knowledge of a country to which very few people
have had access, to observe the arrival of a recent shipment of food aid
from Canada and Hong Kong and to assess ongoing food needs of the North
Korean population.

"The future looks very grim for all the people we met on this trip,"
says Hudson.  "I fully expect that within six months we will see what is
currently a level-four situation of extreme hunger rapidly develop
into a full-blown, level-five famine."

Anticipating this crisis before it happens has weighed heavily on Hudson
since her return to Canada.  "It's critical that those of us who see
this famine coming find a way to stimulate public awareness before it's
too late," explains Hudson.         --MORE--

Famine..../2

Disappointed at the Canadian government's small contribution to the
international humanitarian relief effort in the DPRK, Hudson hopes
that new data emerging from the DPRK which confirms the deteriorating
situation will convince the Canadian government to release funds already
committed for food aid and allow them to be channeled for DPRK relief.

"The challenge is to convince people, including our own government, that
the time to act is before we are confronted by horrific news footage of
starving children," says Hudson.  "Already the situation in the DPRK is
worse in actual terms than the famine which hit Ethiopia in 1983/84," she
adds.

According to Hudson, part of the problem in recognizing the seriousness of
the situation  in North Korea is that, "The face of hunger is deceptive
when food shortages are spread evenly across the population."  She
explains that while the mortality rates are still low, once the crisis
worsens, death will be widespread. 

"Right now the people we were meeting in North Korea are receiving less
than half the daily minimum ration of rice needed to survive.  Without
increased food aid, rations will diminish even further-----and starvation
will effect an entire population of 22 million people," says Hudson.  

The Foodgrains delegation, while acknowledging the complexities of
distributing food aid in a country like North Korea, is confident that
shipments can be managed effectively.  "We have an opportunity here to
prevent exceptional human suffering before it happens, says Hudson.  "I
pray this message is heard before it's too late."

For further information, and to arrange media interviews 
with the Reverend Nan Hudson, please contact:
Mary-Frances Denis
Manager, Public Relations and Information 
The United Church of Canada
416-231-7680 ext. 4033 (business)
416-960-8836   (residence)

                               --30--

Karen Walker
G.C. Division of Communication,  UCCAN
email:  karen_walker.parti@ecunet.org