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As we sort through the aftermath of the Elders’ visit to Pyongyang, we thought it would be worthwhile to provide a non-random sample of some of the opinion on the food aid question, moving from left to right.
In a short feature on the initial release of the FAO/WFP report, NPR stresses the evidence of deprivation in recent reports.
The New York Times weighs in using humanitarian arguments similar to ours, saying that food aid should not be treated as a political tool. Dorothy Stuehmke, the senior advisor to the 2008-09 food aid program for the U.S. Agency for International Development, addresses the monitoring issue head-on for the L.A. Times and expresses confidence that aid can be appropriately monitored. We will address this issue in detail in a future post.
The Japan Times has a thoughtful piece that shows a bit more exasperation, noting that a “chronic crisis” is an oxymoron. Hankyoreh, as always, is agitated at the LMB government.
The Wall Street Journal offered a highly skeptical editorial in advance of the Elders’ trip, saying that the group was pleading for food aid before they landed. Despite the subsequent gaffes, we are dubious that was the only message delivered. Bruce Klingner at the Heritage Foundation weighed in against food aid last month, saying North Korea was needy but not worthy. This formulation confuses who we mean by North Korea: the leadership is not needy nor worthy. The people however are clearly needy and worthy; that's the dilemma. Klingner has followed up with a blistering critique of the entire Carter effort, including some concerns we share.
Kang Chol Hwan—who has a certain authority as a survivor of the gulag and the author of Aquariums of Pyongyang—weighs in for the Chosun Ilbo. In an argument we have not seen, Kang argues that food aid should be directly linked to human rights concerns: food aid should not only be monitored but linked to release of political prisoners.
Coming: our friends at the Daily NK are writing a rebuttal to arguments we have made in favor of aid; stay tuned.
