by Joseph Yun Li-sun

The South Korean government ends total embargo imposed on NGO operating in North Korea. The Eugene Bell Foundation, which has a close working relationship with Caritas Korea, will be the first to ship aid. The decision to lift the ban follows more reports about the North Korean population’s dire situation.

Seoul (AsiaNews) – For the first time in months, the South Korean government authorised the shipment of humanitarian aid to North Korea. The total embargo was lifted in what is a first sign of thawing relations, following reports about the worsening economic and food situation in the North. South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which legally must approve any aid, gave the green light to the Eugene Bell Foundation, a private US group that focuses on fighting tuberculosis.

Humanitarian aid from North Korea’s two largest donors (United States and South Korea) was interrupted last year because of military provocations by Pyongyang. The sinking of the ROKS Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors, and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island infuriated South Korea’s conservative government. In announcing the embargo, President Lee Myung-bak said his administration would not countenance any more aid unless the North apologised.

Even though South Korean authorities said they would not allow the use of public funds, they did not rule out aid by others. Seoul’s change of heart came after the United Nations issued a report last week painting a dire picture of the humanitarian situation in the impoverished Communist state led by ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong-il.

A long famine, cold winter and poor farming techniques have wiped much of domestic food production. The government’s planned economy has crippled industry in a country where a quarter of the national budget goes to defence and the armed forces, proportionately one of the largest in the world.

Sources told AsiaNews that “people are at their wits’ end, forced to eat earth and raw animal fat, when they find it, with serious consequences for their health.”

The Eugene Bell Foundation will start shipping aid tomorrow. The US-based NGO works closely with Caritas Korea, which should submit its own aid plans to the government shortly.

• korea
• south
• north
• eugene
• bell
• foundation
• aid
• famine
• starvation