[Global NK Newsletter] Humanitarian Aid to North Korea, Development Cooperation, NK Update for June
2022-09-05
July 25, 2022
[Global NK Commentary]
A Study on Humanitarian Aid to North Korea
Juhyun Um, Secretary General
at Medical Aid for Children, provides an overview of international and South
Korean aid initiatives in North Korea and examines North Korea’s current
perspective on humanitarian assistance. The author analyzes that Pyongyang’s
official refusal of humanitarian assistance in 2014 is a multidimensional issue
that encompasses the health and welfare of North Koreans, the regime’s
commitment to remain self-reliant, and the new Cold War order. Dr. Um proposes
that in pursuing peace on the Korean peninsula, Seoul should strive to find
ways that mutually respect the interests of both Koreas rather than push for a
unilateral humanitarian assistance policy.
[Global NK Special Report] Capacity Building and
Development Cooperation for North Korea
Changyong Choi, Associate Professor at the Seoul
National University Graduate School of Public Administration, calls for South
Korea to engage in trilateral cooperation with international financial
institutions to offer capacity-building programs and knowledge-sharing projects
to North Korea, thereby providing the North with education and training on the
market economy. The author argues that it is important to encourage the North
to divert investment from nuclear development to technological and capital
development, legalize commerce, and formalize institutions for taxation and
trade regulations. He further states such technical development will help to
build state capacity, reduce inter-Korean tensions, and support North Korea’s
transition to a market-based economy.
In this month’s NK Update, Hanna Lee, Ph.D.
Candidate at Seoul National University, provides an overview of current events
related to North Korea in June, covering North Korean missile tests and the international
community’s response; the evolving nature of U.S.-ROK and U.S.-ROK-Japan
relationships; and President Yoon’s comments on North Korea, sanctions, and the
Indo-Pacific at the Madrid NATO Summit. She calls for increased international
cooperation on sanctions to prevent a resort to military escalation, which
would result in “global chaos.”
