Fri, 16 May 1997 22:31:17

>Dear Ms Krisher,

>Please feel free to publish my e-mail on your homepage if you believe it will help your campaign. On the other hand, I'm not sure how much help the relief effort of yours and others will be able to provide in time for the starving people in North Korea. From what I have read on internet versions of newspapers and by subscribing to Moogoonghwa (a newsgroup devoted to current Korean affairs), it seems that the total amount of food shipments required to stave off famine is an order of magnitude greater than what the multilateral charitable organisations could provide. In other words, only aid coming directly from various governments is sufficient in the long term. And, as Ms Bertini of the UNWFP admitted (according to the Asia Times), such a massive infusion of food deliveries would be beyond the capacity of UNICEF/UNWFP to monitor under the present arrangement with the North Korean government. This admission, I'm afraid, will mean that, unless there's a change in the political climate in Northeast Asia, the various governments will refuse to donate food to North Korea for fear that it will be used to augment military stockpiles. Reports that the North Korean government has budgeted a few hundred million dollars for celebratory purposes are hardly going assure those governments that the North Korean government is serious about famine relief.

SSo, I fear that help will reach the North Korean people too little, too late. But, the attempt to do the right thing seems to be better than to do nothing at all. I guess that's why I decided to contribute to your campaign. My warmest regards and thanks to you and others who are actually doing something, and my sympathies to Mr Krisher in particular.

>Sincerely Yours,

>Choi, Sang-Kyung

>P.S. If you wish, I can let the URL of your homepage and a brief explanation of what it's about be known to other subscribers of the Moogoonghwa newsgroup. Again, I can send you the Asia Times editorials distributed on Moogoonghwa if you wish to examine its contents and perhaps send a reply to the newspaper regarding 1) its view that massive donations without regard to politics is naive and 2) its skepticism that the monitoring done by UNICEF/UNWFP is ensuring that the supplies reach the intended recipients.

>P.P.S. Do you want to publish this letter on your homepage, too ? :) I leave it to your discretion.