Expert Panel on Food Aid to North Korea

Yesterday, The Guardian’s North Korea Network ran an article bringing together five expert opinions on how the outside world should approach food aid policies towards the DPRK. In addition to our own Marcus Noland, contributors include:

• Jang Jin-sung, North Korean defector and founder of New Focus International;
• Roberta Cohen, non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution;
• James Hoare, Britain’s first diplomatic representative in North Korea from 2001 – 2002; and
• Steven Weber, professor of political science at UC Berkeley.

While opinions range fairly widely, from Jang Jin-sung (“stop funding food aid”) to Roberta Cohen (“hungry people should not be penalized”), many of the contributions touch upon the underlying ethical dilemmas as well as the current climate of donor fatigue towards the country.

You can read the full article here.