ID :
202313
Fri, 08/19/2011 - 11:15
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/202313
The shortlink copeid
Keep the humanitarian aid and dialogue channel with North Korea open
SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- The United States announced a decision Thursday to offer $900,000 worth of emergency aid to flood-ravaged North Korea.
"In response to humanitarian needs arising from recent flooding in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States will provide emergency humanitarian assistance to DPRK," the State Department said in a press release. "The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will contribute up to $900,000 in emergency relief supplies to North Korea's Kangwon and North and South Hwanghae provinces through U.S. NGOs (nongovernmental organizations)."
The decision came less than a month after the two sides resumed high-level dialogue but the State Department emphasized that its move is unrelated to political or diplomatic circumstances.
"This emergency relief demonstrates our continuing concern for the well-being of the North Korean people. It has been the United States' longstanding position that the provision of humanitarian assistance is separate from political and security concerns."
It is not the first time that the U.S. has given "humanitarian" aid to North Korea. The USAID provided the North with $600,000 worth of relief supplies to Pyongyang when the communist country was hit by floods in September last year.
Announcing the decision, the U.S. revealed it is maintaining a dialogue channel with the North. Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a press briefing that the U.S. is working on details through the North Korean mission to the United Nations, which in diplomatic circles is called the New York channel.
"We are still talking through the New York channel to North Korea about needs," she said.
While pressuring Pyongyang to show sincerity on denuclearization, Washington is also intending to create an atmosphere to hold negotiations with the North.
The position of the South Korean government is also to distinguish humanitarian support from political, security and military issues. President Lee Myung-bak confirmed the position in his Aug. 15 address and promised to continue humanitarian aid for children and natural disasters.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also advised Seoul to consider offering humanitarian support to the North positively "for the sake of inter-Korean reconciliation."
Earlier this month, South Korea offered aid worth 5 billion won ($4.7 million) to North Korea, which is regarded as a proper action in the spirit of humanitarianism.
However, critics say the inter-Korean exchange and cooperation has not been on the right track. The lukewarm attitude toward a reunion of families dispersed in both Koreas around the national holiday of Chuseok next month is being criticized for its inconsistency between the government's words and actions.
Responding to a call by the head of the ruling Grand National Party, the Unification Ministry said it has no plan to propose the reunion first to North Korea although it said the family reunions are a humanitarian issue that must be resolved as a top priority. The two sides have usually staged the reunions around Chuseok and other important national holidays.
It would be understandable that the government should maintain a hard-line stance with the North Korean political regime but the humanitarian aid and the dialogue channel that are unrelated with political concerns should be continued.
"In response to humanitarian needs arising from recent flooding in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States will provide emergency humanitarian assistance to DPRK," the State Department said in a press release. "The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will contribute up to $900,000 in emergency relief supplies to North Korea's Kangwon and North and South Hwanghae provinces through U.S. NGOs (nongovernmental organizations)."
The decision came less than a month after the two sides resumed high-level dialogue but the State Department emphasized that its move is unrelated to political or diplomatic circumstances.
"This emergency relief demonstrates our continuing concern for the well-being of the North Korean people. It has been the United States' longstanding position that the provision of humanitarian assistance is separate from political and security concerns."
It is not the first time that the U.S. has given "humanitarian" aid to North Korea. The USAID provided the North with $600,000 worth of relief supplies to Pyongyang when the communist country was hit by floods in September last year.
Announcing the decision, the U.S. revealed it is maintaining a dialogue channel with the North. Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a press briefing that the U.S. is working on details through the North Korean mission to the United Nations, which in diplomatic circles is called the New York channel.
"We are still talking through the New York channel to North Korea about needs," she said.
While pressuring Pyongyang to show sincerity on denuclearization, Washington is also intending to create an atmosphere to hold negotiations with the North.
The position of the South Korean government is also to distinguish humanitarian support from political, security and military issues. President Lee Myung-bak confirmed the position in his Aug. 15 address and promised to continue humanitarian aid for children and natural disasters.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also advised Seoul to consider offering humanitarian support to the North positively "for the sake of inter-Korean reconciliation."
Earlier this month, South Korea offered aid worth 5 billion won ($4.7 million) to North Korea, which is regarded as a proper action in the spirit of humanitarianism.
However, critics say the inter-Korean exchange and cooperation has not been on the right track. The lukewarm attitude toward a reunion of families dispersed in both Koreas around the national holiday of Chuseok next month is being criticized for its inconsistency between the government's words and actions.
Responding to a call by the head of the ruling Grand National Party, the Unification Ministry said it has no plan to propose the reunion first to North Korea although it said the family reunions are a humanitarian issue that must be resolved as a top priority. The two sides have usually staged the reunions around Chuseok and other important national holidays.
It would be understandable that the government should maintain a hard-line stance with the North Korean political regime but the humanitarian aid and the dialogue channel that are unrelated with political concerns should be continued.
