(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on July 27)

Aid resumption

Amid a deadlock in the six-party talks aimed at the denuclearization of North
Korea and rising tensions between South Korea and North Korea, the government in
Seoul has signaled that it will resume humanitarian assistance to the North.
It is expected that several billion won of the government's inter-Korean
cooperation fund will be provided to some ten NGOs working in North Korea.
Although the Lee Myung-bak administration has not sent rice and fertilizer aid to
the North - rice and fertilizer had been shipped annually under the previous
liberal government - indirect assistance through NGOs had continued until early
this year.
This year, the government had planned to provide some 10 billion won from the
inter-Korean cooperation fund in the form of matching funds to NGOs operating in
the North. However, the escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula resulting
from the detention of a South Korean worker at the Gaeseong industrial park on
March 30, long-range missile tests on April 5 and the second nuclear test on May
25 caused the government to postpone the NGO funding plan.
The government's decision to resume indirect aid is in line with its policy of
not tying humanitarian assistance to politics. It also reflects the need for
urgent humanitarian assistance to the North. International food assistance is
quickly drying up. According to the U.N. World Food Program, there has been no
international food aid to the North since the second nuclear test in May. In the
meantime, it is estimated that North Korea could face a grain shortage of some
1.17 million tons.
While the Lee administration has recoiled from giving assistance to the North
fearing unfavorable public opinion in the South, it should not be restricted in
its inter-Korean policies by the prospect of their unpopularity. South Koreans
should and will understand that humanitarian concerns take precedence over
politics.
During his visit to Sweden, Lee said that South Koreans are the only people who
are concerned about the people of North Korea and can really help that country
stand on its feet.
With the resumption of indirect humanitarian aid, the Lee administration is also
showing some flexibility in its dealings with the North. At a time when the
international community's sanctions against Pyongyang are beginning to have an
effect, such a show of flexibility may give the North a reason to show
flexibility on its part. Perhaps this will pave the way for engaging each other,
once again.
(END)