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 (263
notes).

Note 262 by UMNS on Aug. 6, 1997 at 16:04 Eastern (3711 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                           450(10-21-71B){262}
          New York (212) 870-3803                     Aug. 6, 1997

North Korea needs more than
short-term relief, Laney says

               by United Methodist News Service

     Short-term emergency relief will not solve North Korea's food
problems, according to a former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea.  
     The Rev. James Laney, a United Methodist who also is
president emeritus of Emory University in Atlanta, noted that
while emergency supplies are needed urgently for famine relief,
"the fact is we're facing long-term deterioration not only in
agriculture but in the whole economy."
     North Korea must be willing to make some changes in their
system, he said during an Aug. 6 interview with United Methodist
News Service. 
     "They've isolated themselves from the world and they can't
survive," he explained. "Even under the best of circumstances,
they can't feed their own people. When you have a bad agricultural
system, depleted soil, floods and drought, it's terrible."
     According to the New York Times, relief officials allowed to
visit the country recently report the current drought could push
millions of North Koreans "to the brink of starvation," as
evidenced in severe malnutrition not seen since famines in
Ethiopia and Somalia.
     The desperate situation has compelled North Korea to meet for
the first time with South Korea, the United States and China to
make arrangements for peace talks that would formally end the
Korean war. That meeting took place Aug. 5 in New York.
     Prior to those negotiations, Laney and retired U.S. Senator
Sam Nunn, another United Methodist, had visited North Korea in
July, at the invitation of its government. Fully briefed by White
House and State Department staffs, their goal was "to see if we
could break through the crust of some of this formality ... which
seems to be getting in the way."
     The pair also wanted to make sure that North Korea's top
leadership "did not see military action as a way out" of its
dilemma, he added.
     "We pointed out that the world was ready to help North Korea,
but North Korea had to do more than say, 'lay it on our
doorstep,'" Laney said.
     Although the purpose of the visit was not to assess the food
crisis, the pair saw evidence of widespread economic malaise.
Laney added that they were shocked at the deteriorating condition
of Pyongyang, the capital city, and noted he observed "a
listlessness, a lack of energy that obviously comes from
malnutrition."
     The plane trip from Japan to North Korea also gave them a
bird's-eye view of the soil erosion. "The delta was silted up and
there were no crops," he reported. "What crops there were were
brown from the drought."
     After their visit, Laney and Nunn briefed South Korean
officials about the meetings. South Koreans are responding to
famine relief efforts, according to Laney. He recounted one
"success story" involving World Vision of Korea, which has
installed one wet noodle factory in North Korea -- capable of
feeding 60,000 people a day -- and is planning to open five more.
     He noted that President Clinton also recently authorized the
U.S. to send 100,000 tons of grain for famine relief.
     But North Korea's future depends upon the success of
establishing four-way talks. "I think North Korea is ready to talk
with the South after the [South's] present president goes out of
office in early January," Laney said. 
                              #  #  #

     

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