Humanitarian aid to N. Korea largely unwelcomed

By Rachel Lee

The Moon Jae-in administration's plan to offer $8 million in humanitarian assistance to North Korea is producing a frosty reaction at home and abroad due to its timing.

Criticism is mounting over the timing of the announcement, which came only two days after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted a new resolution on sanctions on Pyongyang for its sixth nuclear test, Sept. 3.

Kim Young-soo, a professor at Sogang University, said aid for humanitarian purposes, regardless of the political situation, could not be rejected, but the timing mattered.

Korea University professor Nam Young-soo said there was also doubt whether North Korea would welcome the aid from the South through international organizations.

The opposition parties criticized the government over the move.

"The government needs to contemplate if the move can be justified when our country is suffering the most due to the North's nuclear test," the People's Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo said.

Moon's plan for aid has garnered a similar response from outside the country.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked Moon, a former human rights lawyer, to consider the timing of the proposed aid during a phone conversation last week, but Moon said the issue was one that should be dealt with regardless of the political situation.

The United States also expressed considerable discomfort on the matter.

However, Cheong Wa Dae claimed the timing was just a coincidence.

Lee Eugene, vice spokesman for the Ministry of Unification, said the UNSC's strongest resolution, which would further isolate North Korea's economy, would make children and mothers more vulnerable.

South Korea had therefore stuck to its plan to give the assistance to the North even after it launched what was presumed to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan for the second time in a less than a month, Friday.

A Cheong Wa Dae official said Friday that the government's basic stance was to support North Korea through international organizations, adding that the government is "supposed" to make a contribution, not directly to the North, but through international organizations.

The official also said that the U.S. and Russia have given $1 million, $3million in humanitarian assistance to North Korea, respectively, through such groups as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) as of September this year.

The decision will be made next Thursday on whether to approve the aid to infants and pregnant women in North Korea. If approved, it would mark the first humanitarian aid in 21 months since the previous Park Geun-hye government sent $800,000 through the United Nations Population Fund, formerly the U.N. Fund for Population Activities, in December 2015.

Humanitarian aid to the North through international bodies was suspended following Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January 2016.

According to the unification ministry, the plan includes providing the WFP with $4.5 million to help infants and pregnant women, and $3.5 million to UNICEF.