NK in the News

The last week or so has been a big one for North Korea in the news. I will hopefully be keeping a consistant (read: weekly) update on key issues connected to NK and of course human rights there. (appologies for the lack of citations...i am new to this. lost a lot of the links.)

WFP Calls it quits
Earlier in the year, based on what they claim is a good harvest (but which is actually due more to the amount of aid coming in, without the WFP observers, from S. Korea and China), the N. Korean government demanded that the WFP and other Western NGOs all leave by the end of the year. This even included European groups who usually aren't hit by as heavy an attack as are US groups. NK demanded a shift from humanitarian (emergency) aid to development aid. In compliance with the demands of the NK government, the WFP phased out their operations over the last few months and officially pulled out on the first of January. The WFP had been providing food to approximately 6.5 million N. Koreans. For more information on their operations in NK go here.

Kim Jong Il in China?
Rumors abound pointing to a visit by the often sedentary NK ruler to China. This seems to be a rare occasion as the NK ruler has only been out of the country on seven different occasions. The meeting most likely concerns the stall in the Six Party talks. (background: the US has sanctioned NK over a money laundering scheme and NK has cited this as the reason for not resuming the talks). However, I hope that it has more to do (though this is purely wishful thinking) with a little noticed comment made by President Hu Jintao during his visit to N. Korea:

In unusually direct language, Hu recommended the so-called Chinese Way of openness and reforms, but although North Korean leader Kim Jong-il offered polite praise of China's success, he stopped short of announcing any plans to emulate the country, leaving observers guessing what changes the North’s economic reforms will bring.

Though I am not a big fan of much that the Chinese government has done, the "Chinese Way" of reform has been utterly remarkable, especially when compared to most former Soviet and Block nations. It would be incredible if China took on the role of the reformer and pushed N. Korea to reform in a similar way to the Deng Xiaoping reforms. It wouldn't bring us the whole way, but it would be miles closer than today.

Changes in the Unification Ministry
Chung Dong-young, the former Unification Minister who had courted the wrath of every NKHR activist the world over has stepped down to pursue his presidential ambitions. This leaves room for the new minister, Lee Jong-seok, to begin sitting in the drivers seat of North-South relations. Given his position as a key advisor to Roh Moo-hyun over the last few years, one must wonder whether this will represent even a ripple of policy change. We'll see.

Defining Irony
In the most interesting twist I have ever seen, N. Korea decided to sue the S. Korean government over the treatment of POWs and dissidents who were recently returned to N. Korea. This is quite the claim given the nature of human rights in the NK and some other issues including, oh, abductions, money laundering, drug laundering, and some other not so commendable activities that N. Korea has adopted as standard operating proceedure. Thankfully (or else this would have confirmed for me that the world has gone crazy) some S. Koreans justly responded. S. Korea plans on ignoring both claims.

and that is your NK week. and then some.