[NEWS] Current Rice Aid Distribution to NK Misguided: Lawmaker
James T. Morris, executive director of the WFP, also said last month that the best way to help the most vulnerable North Koreans by rice aid would be to funnel it through the U.N. agency, as it has better monitoring capabilities.
Of 800,000 tons of rice aid given by the South in 2003 and 2004, for example, 18.83 percent went to Pyongyang, which takes up only 13.7 percent of the Norths population of some 22.4 million.
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Rep. Chung Moon-hun of the largest opposition Grand National Party (GNP) and his aides produced the results of an analysis based on the data of rice aid distribution by region and population.
``South Pyongan Province, where Nampo is located, also receives a relatively larger amount of aid than Hwanghae or Kangwon Province, Chung said during a National Assembly inspection session of the Unification Ministry.
``This shows that while the rice aid may be helping to improve the dire shortage of food in the North, its original cause _ urgent humanitarian aid _ has been weakened, he said. ``I think by distributing more rice to members of the favored in Pyongyang and Nampo, which are relatively rich cities, the rice aid from the South is used as a political means to maintain the current system.
Chung, a member of the Assemblys Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee, also took issue with the level of transparency in the distribution process.
``North Korea allows the South only two or three on-site inspections per 10 tons of rice aid, he said. ``In 2003, with 400,000 tons of rice aid, there were 12 on-site check-ups and the Souths officials only met 34 North Korean officials and 42 residents.
It is a big contrast to the World Food Programs (WFP) case, which provided 368,000 tons of rice last year and has 40 permanent officials stationed in the North, with some 800 on-site check-ups, according to the lawmaker.
Critics in the South have already said that the South has to strengthen its monitoring system of rice aid to prevent it from feeding the Norths strong military.
James T. Morris, executive director of the WFP, also said last month that the best way to help the most vulnerable North Koreans by rice aid would be to funnel it through the U.N. agency, as it has better monitoring capabilities.
Chung and other opposition lawmakers suggested that the government change the rice aid, which has been delivered to the North in the form of long-term loans until now, into free aid, and instead demand more monitoring rights of its distribution.
Originally reported by Korea TImes
