wfn.org | North Korea famine

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (174
notes).

Note 172 by UMNS on June 20, 1997 at 15:48 Eastern (4826 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Bloom                           360(10-21-71B){172}
          New York (212) 870-3803                    June 20, 1997

United Methodist conferences
respond to North Korea famine

               by United Methodist News Service

     When the Rev. Mike Miller first heard about an appeal for
famine relief in North Korea, one of the few remaining hardline
Communist countries, he reached into his past to consider his
response.
     If the appeal had been for North Vietnam, another Communist
country, how would he, a Vietnam veteran, react? The answer, he
said in a June 18 interview, "was there was nothing I could do but
help."
     As chairperson of Volunteers-in-Mission for the North Texas
United Methodist Annual (Regional) Conference, Miller encouraged
others in this mission. The result -- when conference delegates
met recently in Plano, Texas -- was the collection of nearly 500
food boxes for individual families in North Korea and $3,000 in
cash.     
     Volunteers loaded the boxes on a truck bound for the United
Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Depot in Baldwin, La., where
a mass shipment is being gathered.
     Other United Methodist annual conferences also have joined
the famine relief efforts. Louisiana Conference delegates put
together more than 100 boxes and pledged to send another 600 to
the depot. The Rocky Mountain Conference collected 76 boxes, along
with $1,000 for bulk rice and shipping expenses. The New York
Conference sent a message to President Clinton, asking the U.S. to
provide large-scale food relief to North Korea.
     Miller, who is pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church in
Wichita Falls, Texas, implemented the box campaign through
district meetings and also asked every lay and clergy delegate to
the annual conference meeting to bring a box. The project was
endorsed by his bishop and cabinet.
     Acknowledging the political and ideological disagreements
between the United States and North Korea, Miller said he told
those who worried about making contributions "to see how God would
direct them."
     The pastor, who was serving in a rural area that had gone
through a severe drought when the North Korea appeal was launched,
said he realized "that [famine] could happen to us. If it was my
children who were starving, I would be thrilled to get a box of
relief food no matter where it came from."
     While the political isolation of North Korea has made it
difficult to document the severity of the famine, mounting
evidence is clear.
     The United Nation's World Food Program, which is coordinating
international relief efforts, declared the country was on the
brink of starvation after a May 17-24 team visit there.
     It predicted the last available government rations would run
out by June 20, with only limited quantities of bartered
commercial food imports expected. The World Food Program report
noted that food aid supplied so far through the United Nations and
nongovernmental organizations (NGOS) has only covered a small part
of the need.
     "The emergence of commonly recognized pre-famine indicators
suggest that starvation will ensue in segments of the population
before the next harvest, unless remedial action is taken
urgently," the report said.
     A team representing Action by Churches Together (ACT) -- a
broad ecumenical coalition whose membership includes Church World
Service and the United Methodist Committee on Relief -- also found
evidence of severe food deficits during a May 27-June 3 visit.
     The Rev. Victor Hsu, a team member and director of the Church
World Service East Asia and Pacific office, said they were told
that people who in January were being rationed 300 grams of food a
day were now only receiving 100 grams, "which was confirmed by the
families that we visited."
     Compared to his visit with a National Council of Churches
delegation in January, Hsu said he did feel a sense of hope
because of increased vegetation. "I was able to see barley seed
that was planted growing," he said. "They are making use of every
bit of arable land that they have to grow food."
     However, recent plantings will not relieve the current food
shortage, which Hsu said was more obvious in places outside the
capital of Pyongyang.
     ACT now has a representative, Erich Weingartner, in place in
North Korea to monitor distribution of NGO relief donations. He
joins six other World Food Program monitors in this task,
according to Hsu, with two more to be added in the near future.
     Donations to the North Korea Emergency can be made to UMCOR
Advance No. 226435-0.
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