NORTHEAST ASIA PEACE AND SECURITY NETWORK ***** SPECIAL REPORT ***** September 2, 1999 The following are extended excerpts from US Congressman Tony Hall's speech in Tokyo following his return from a four-day visit to the DPRK. Media reports based on Hall's press conference were summarized in the Daily Report for Monday, August 30. ------------------------------- CONTACT: Deborah DeYoung August 30, 1999 202/225-6465 EPIDEMICS THREATEN NORTH KOREA, U.S. CONGRESSMAN WARNS Food alone can't stop famine, Hall says SEOUL, Aug. 30 -- Rep. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, today warned that food aid alone will not end the famine that has stalked North Korea since 1996, and urged South Korea and Japan to take a greater leadership role in assisting with humanitarian relief efforts. Hall's comments followed his visit August 26-29 to Hyesan, Sariwon, and Pyongyang. Excerpts follow: "U.N. assistance has stabilized North Korea's food crisis -- but hunger still plagues the overwhelming majority of its people. They seem to be surviving -- but just barely. I am encouraged that our aid is making a difference, but health problems and unsafe drinking water are eroding many of the gains made in the past three years. And food aid does little to help children over seven. "It was heart-warming to see 3-year-olds performing a little dance and song at a school in Sariwon -- kids who were born at the time of my first visit, and who obviously have been getting food aid. But I also saw 13-year-olds, who have not been eligible for food in the past four years -- and they look awful. Their growth is stunted, their arms and legs are spindly, and even though they aren't sick, they have very little life in them. "At the orphanages, things look better -- and I was glad to find them noisy places. Rambunctious kids are healthy ones; in my past visits the orphans have been eerily quiet. But the orphanages are overflowing; according to their directors, the number of children there has tripled since the crisis began. Many are still very malnourished. "Part of the reason is that birth rates have plummeted. According to aid workers, the average weight of newborn babies has fallen from 7-1/4 pounds, to 4-3/4 pounds -- and 4-pound infants are not uncommon. (In kilos, that is a drop from 3.3 kilos, to 2.2 kilos). Low birthweight predicts childhoods marked by high rates of disease and death, and it cannot be reversed with food aid alone. "There is a clear health crisis in North Korea. Tuberculosis is at epidemic proportions, aid workers say. Diarrhea is another plague that is especially dangerous for children. Outside the capital, there is virtually no safe drinking water and very little of the Oral Rehydration Salts that have saved millions of children's lives in other hurting places in the world. "Medicines for treating even ordinary diseases are in extremely short supply -- and so are antibiotics and power to heat homes and hospitals. We again saw surgery being performed without anesthesia -- on a heart patient, and on a woman suffering from breast cancer. "So-called 'alternative food' is to blame for a lot of the problems. Everyone seems to be eating a mixture of a little corn, cut with a lot of dried leaves and twigs. That may fill your belly, but it robs you of your health. There is no 'alternative' to food -- unless it's an I-V drip. What too many people are eating, because they have no other alternative, should not be considered food. "Blame goes to officials too -- although it is clear by the growing amount of livestock and other improvements that it is investing in some solutions to the food shortage. But too many still do not recognize the breadth of the problems. Aid workers typically work with ministries of health, and agriculture, and sanitation -- but in North Korea they rarely have access to officials with relevant expertise. And too many officials still try to hide what is happening; at one orphanage, the director told just 30 children were malnourished -- until I pointed out that I had seen more than that in just three rooms. "Even in Pyongyang, where people look a lot better, a U.N. car was broken into recently. All the thief stole was the aid worker's bag of groceries, and the first aid kit. The radio and other equipment wasn't touched. "Last year, the United States provided 83% of the food the World Food Program received -- in part because we had a bumper crop of wheat. From 1996 to 1999, we have donated 35% of the overall food aid. Japan and South Korea have given just 5%, and other nations also have fallen short of their traditional contribution to U.N. relief efforts. "The world needs to be more generous, but as the region's leaders, South Korea and Japan in particular need to do more. The United States has 100,000 troops in the region -- and 37,000 on this border. I want to see every effort made to improve the situation on the Peninsula, and it is clear that humanitarian aid is building goodwill that has been lacking for five decades. "My visits to Japan and South Korea are as important a part of my trip as going to North Korea. I always stop to see our allies and friends, and value their insights. This morning, I met with President Kim, and was encouraged by his concern about the humanitarian situation. I urged him to do two things. "First, the world looks to South Korea before deciding whether to contribute to the U.N. relief effort. If Seoul only uses bilateral negotiations to offer humanitarian aid, it will be very difficult for UNICEF and other U.N. organizations to convince donors that they should help. So I urged President Kim to resume South Korea's humanitarian contributions, without preconditions. "Second, President Kim is one of the most respected leaders -- not only in Asia, but in the world. I believe he could convince Prime Minister Obuchi to sell some of Japan's rice stockpile at 'friendship prices' -- either to South Korea or to the international community, which could donate it to relief efforts in North Korea. So I asked him to do whatever he could to persuade Japan to help. "Before I leave on Tuesday, I'll also meet with Foreign Minister Hong Soon-Young; the Speaker and a number of members of the National Assembly; Cardinal Kim; and leaders of the Korean Sharing Movement, an NGO with ties to Korean Americans. "I began my visit to Asia with meetings in Tokyo that were chilling. It was my sixth visit to Japan in three years, and once again I heard the many reasons why the government will do nothing to help, while North Korea's people starve. All of the reasons make political sense -- but they are heartless, and not at all like the great nation I know Japan to be. "I have visited more than 100 countries, and have seen Japan's generosity in extending aid many times. When it comes to North Korea, though, I am convinced that history will not be a kind judge. Japan's stockpile of 3-5 million tons of rice is slowly rotting-- and storing it costs Japan more than the entire U.N. annual appeal. Meanwhile, two million North Koreans have starved in the worst famine since colonial times. "Finally, I normally leave political issues for others to address -- but in North Korea they are crowding out the humanitarian issues that are my top focus. Vice Minister Kim Gye Gwan and I had several lengthy discussions about the missile and other matters. I urged him in the strongest possible terms not to jeopardize the progress our countries have made by launching another missile. "Here is what Minister Kim told me as we discussed this issue: 'If the United States lifts sanctions, we will certainly respond with good faith. Sanctions drive the DPRK into a corner... we will not sit idle and starve.' But he also said, 'We know we are at an important and delicate moment.' And he agreed that there is a good chance this problem can be resolved. "I am hopeful that we will resolve this issue, as we have resolved other difficulties. And I am convinced that we would be foolish if we lose this moment. This is the best opportunity we've had in years to ease tensions in this region. That said, I'll leave the details about why I'm so hopeful for the negotiators who will meet in Berlin next month. "I was struck during my visit by North Korea's admission not only that its humanitarian problem is severe -- but even more by its acknowledgment that it is at the top of its agenda. It's hard for people who don't live in North Korea (or the other hungry places in the world) to understand that food can be used as a weapon. We think of hunger 'pangs' -- not of a life-and-death struggle -- when we imagine what North Korea's people are going through. I can tell you this: the 20-million people in North Korea don't think the famine there is a minor issue. And neither do its officials. "When these difficult times pass, the people of North Korea will remember... they will remember who helped them in their time of great need, and who found excuses to ignore them. Whether the current government stands or falls, the people won't forget. "We have a tremendous opportunity to help people who, for 50 years, have been convinced that we are the enemy -- and we can do it for a tiny percentage of the cost of maintaining our military deterrent. We have very little to lose in trying -- and every reason to make sure North Korea does not become convinced that its situation is so bleak that it has nothing to lose by either retreating or striking out. "In three years, I have seen North Korea change and open in ways that defy what the experts in Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have said. It is clear that humanitarian aid is not only saving lives -- that it is also creating goodwill. For both reasons, it should be continued."