CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR FRONT PAGE STORY ABOUT OUR CAMPAIGN HD American Tries to Fend Off Starvation in North Korea Long-time journalist helps a cloistered, communist country BY * Cameron W. Barr, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor WC 532 Words CC 4067 Characters PD 06/05/96 SN * Christian Science Monitor SC CHSM ED ALL 06/05/96 PG 1 CY (Copyright 1996) LP Late last year an expatriate American journalist named Bernard * Krisher heard how the United States planned to respond to reports of a food crisis in North Korea: A contribution of $25,000 - less than the cost of, say, a Lexus. "It made me think that North Korea really has no friends," he * says. So Mr. Krisher decided he would be a friend to North Korea, a nation notorious for its xenophobia, a suspicious nuclear-energy program, and an authoritarian, Communist government. It is also a country that the rest of the world has all but forsaken. TD * Krisher says he hasn't forever left journalism, a career in which he spent decades as a Tokyo-based correspondent for Newsweek and other publications. But "all my life as a journalist I was an observer," he says. "And very often when I was in front of someone {in an interview} ... I would think to myself, 'I could do better.' " * Krisher now devotes much of his time to projects in Cambodia and in North Korea. This year he has delivered to North Korea two shipments of rice and other goods, worth approximately $100,000, and plans a third trip this summer. He has raised money for aid to North Korea by appealing for help on the Internet through a Web site he created last December. He launched the Internet effort, he says, because "you have a natural calamity where people are not receiving the kind of aid and support that people in other countries would receive under similar circumstances." * To underscore this point, Krisher cites a May 13 report by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Food Programme. The report notes that North Korea's capacity to produce enough rice and other grains for its 23 million people was already under strain before floods and other adverse weather worsened the situation in 1994 and 1995. "As there are no further {food aid} pledges in the pipeline from May onwards," the report says, "the food supply situation is becoming increasingly desperate." * A North Korean official wrote to Krisher, in a letter available on the home page, "{W}e cannot deny that we face a very severe food shortage in the coming months, until this year's harvest, if a large amount of rice is not imported. Our need is only rice." In the late 1980s, after becoming acquainted with Cambodia's * King Norodom Sihanouk, Krisher wanted to do something to help in the reconstruction of that troubled nation. He founded an organization called Japan Relief for Cambodia that encourages individuals and corporations to help the country, usually insisting on donations of goods and services rather than money. There is some connection between the two countries: King Sihanouk has long had close ties with North Korea's leaders. Indeed, a South Korean government official cites that connection * in suggesting that Krisher "has a personal bias in favor of North Korea." The official says that his government has no objection to * Krisher's activities. (See story above.) * Krisher tends to duck questions about the politics of North Korea, preferring to address the humanitarian issues. "I'm finally living out my Walter Mitty, Don Quixote dream of testing out what could be done," he says. ART PHOTOS: (PAGE ONE) A QUEUE FOR HANDOUTS: North Koreans in Unpa County wait for distribution of food May 26 by the International Federation of the Red Cross. The aid group has appealed for $5.25 million in food to avoid a famine in the isolated Communist country., RED CROSS FEDERATION/REUTERS 2) FOOD FOR NORTH * KOREA: American Bernard Krisher stands beside a food shipment in one of the world's last Communist countries. He has started a campaign to help feed the country, which the UN claims is near starvation., * JOSEPH KRISHER

Pyongyang "reminds" Seoul of 1984 relief aid to SKorean flood victims (Agence France Press, September 25)

SEOUL, Korea--Flood-devastated North Korea has broadcast a reminder of its relief aid to South Korean flood victims in 1984, in an apparent call on Seoul to reciprocate, monitors here said Monday.

In three radio broadcasts last week, Pyongyang stressed its 1984 donations to South Korea amounted to 18 million dollars and included 7,200 tonnes of rice, 100,000 tonnes of cement and medical supplies.

"The enormous contribution was unprecedented in the 120-year history of relief efforts by the international Red Cross," the broadcast was quoted as saying.

The call came as the two Koreas were scheduled to resume talks in Beijing Wednesday on economic cooperation and additional rice shipments from the South, and hints here that the government might consider some two million dollars in aid if the North expanded bilateral talks.

The North's broadcast was aired three times last week, and also recalled that US and Japanese donations to the South in 1984 stood at 120,000 dollars, said the South's monitoring agency, Naewoe.

"The broadcast quoting a ghost organization allegedly based here was seen as the North's indirect appeal for relief aid," a Naewoe analyst said.

Pyongyang has acknowledged widespread property damage caused by heavy rains in July and August, and made unprecedented appeals for emergency relief supplies from private and international organizations.

But the appeals have never been directly made to its old enemy, Seoul.

For its part, Seoul has stressed it would consider sending relief supplies only after an official request from Pyongyang and in exchange for expanded dialogue.

Since June, South Korea has sent 150,000 tonnes of free rice to the North to relieve pre-flood shortages caused by bad harvests.

In Beijing, Seoul will affirmatively examine additional rice shipments and other relief donations if and when Pyongyang is willing to solve pending political issues, the South's Yonhap news agency said.

The hint that an offer might be made in Beijing stems from judgement that inter-Korean dialogue should continue, it said.

"More flexible attitudes are needed in order to make the Beijing meeting successful," a National Unification Board official was quoted as saying.

North Korean officials are actively monitoring an unprecedented appeal on Internet worldwide computer links for faster aid to victims of heavy flooding in North Korea, a US journalist said Monday.

Bernard Krisher, a former Tokyo bureau chief of the US magazine Newsweek, said he had created an Internet entry over the weekend to "cut through the red tape and help the victims of the flood."

He said this might be the first time the North Korean government acknowledged the existence of the Internet.

Krisher, who publishes an English-language daily in Cambodia and has visited North Korea a few times, said the entry was necessary to raise awareness about the flooding in July and August as other conventional means were not working.

"We are appealing on the Internet to bypass the delays, politics, bureaucracies and the caution shown by government, media and charitable organisations," he said.

The UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs has reported that more than 500,000 people were left homeless by the floods and appealed for more than 15 million dollars in relief aid.

But response has been slow with the United States pledging only 25,000 dollars and the Japanese government 500,000 dollars.

APPEAL FOR NORTH KOREAN FLOOD AID POSTED ON INTERNET TOKYO, Sept. 25 Kyodo

An appeal for cash donations, food, clothes and medicines for the victims of this summer's widespread flooding in North Korea has been posted on the worldwide computer communications network Internet.

Bernard Krisher, former correspondent in Asia for the U.S. news magazine Newsweek, said Monday he posted the appeal to ''help minimize the danger of spreading disease and hunger and protect the population from the cold against the harsh winter ahead.''

Krisher told Kyodo News Service that he was hoping to ''bypass the delays of politics, bureaucracies, and caution shown by government, media and charitable organizations.''

''As former journalists we want to cut through such red tape and simply help the victims of this flood,'' Krisher said, adding that ''politics should not play a role in assisting these helpless and homeless people in need.''

The United Nations has asked the international community for 15.7 million dollars to help the estimated half million people left homeless in the wake of torrential rains that ravaged North Korea in July and August.

Krisher charged that news of the North Korean flood damage has been ''ignored or underreported'' and criticized the response of governments to an aid appeal by the U.N. Department of Humanitarian Affairs as ''slow and inadequate.''

Krisher's plans to post the appeal on the Internet was approved by the North Korean Flood Damage Rehabilitation Committee on Sept. 17.

Krisher, who has visited North Korea three times in the past, was told that while the material flood aid was welcome, the involvement of medical personnel from other countries was not necessary ''because our country has the talented doctors and nurses'' to render medical services.

NORTHEAST ASIA PEACE AND SECURITY NETWORK DAILY REPORT for September 25, 1995 from Berkeley, California, USA

This report is distributed to e-mail participants of the NAPS Network. Please send news items or contributions to the discussion section to Editor, npr@igc.apc.org Conventions for readers and a list of acronyms and abbreviations are sent to all recipients weekly.

In today's Report:

I. Special Announcements

II. United States

III. Republic of Korea

I. Special Announcements

B. DPRK Flood Relief Effort

Bernard Krisher, Chairman of American Assistance to Cambodia and Japan Relief for Cambodia (JRfC), has established a home page on the Internet for those interested in relief efforts in the wake of DPRK flooding. Contact http://race.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~mrosin/flood/index.html

North Korea Makes Rare Plea After Floods Devastate Country

By Kevin Sullivan Washington Post (September 22)

North Korea is suffering from the worst natural disaster of its history: The Communist government says summer floods have left a half-million people homeless, washed away schools, crops and livelihoods in three-quarters of the country and cost 68 lives.

But few nations are rushing to help isolated, bellicose North Korea. The United Nations has appealed for $15.7 million in relief aid, but so far only nine nations have donated a total of $1.2 million in cash, the smallest pledge being $25,000 from the United States.

The South Korean government, invariably referred to as "puppets" and "traitors" in the official North Korean press, has not pledged a penny, although it is weighing a $2 million grant.

South Korean officials are wrestling with pride, strong public sentiment against offering aid and deep mistrust of their prickly northern neighbors. Some in South Korea fear that the North Koreans, already facing a serious food shortage, have exaggerated the flood damage to attract cash and food donations. The world's tepid response to North Korea's woes is not nearly as surprising as North Korea's unprecedented pleas for help -- which will even include an appeal on the Internet.

North Korea's guiding philosophy is juche, or self-reliance, and the 22 million people who live behind the country's closed borders know it well. They have heard it repeated like a mantra by their late leader Kim Il Sung and his son and apparent successor, Kim Jong Il.

So there was great surprise earlier this summer when North Korea asked for emergency rice shipments from Japan and South Korea. Now North Korea has taken the even more uncharacteristic step of publicizing its flood damage and appealing for help from other countries, private relief agencies and, through the Internet, computer users all over the world.

"Emergency relief and support are badly needed," the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Sept. 6, citing heavy damage and heroic rescue operations by the North Korean army during the July and August floods in the northern and western parts of the country.

In its news summary a week earlier, the news service did not report the floods. One story described "unprecedented heavy rains," but it said flooding had been averted by a computerized flood-control system. It did not mention that the bodies of five North Korean soldiers, apparently killed in rescue operations, had floated down rivers into South Korea in late August.

Kim Myong Chol, an unofficial spokesman for North Korea who lives in Tokyo, said the decision to "send an SOS" was made by Kim Jong Il.

"Kim Il Sung was the first generation of revolutionary fighters, so he would not ask for help," Kim Myong Chol said. "Kim Jong Il is university-educated. He knows much more about the world. Kim Jong Il is proud, but it is not below our dignity to ask for help in the case of a natural disaster."

It is unclear how the floods, food shortages and ailing economy will affect the government of Kim Jong Il. He is believed to be in control of the government after his father's death last year, but he has not formally succeeded his father as party leader. There is speculation that he will assume the title on Oct. 10, the 50th anniversary of the party's founding.

North Korea has few friends, but one of them is Bernard Krisher, a former Newsweek correspondent in Tokyo. Krisher, who is now involved in Asian relief projects, recently sent the North Korean government a letter asking officials if they would like him to post an Internet appeal for donations.

The North Korea's Flood Damage Rehabilitation Committee responded by fax on Sept. 17, telling Krisher that it would welcome the Internet campaign. The fax said food and clothing would be welcome, but outside medical personnel would not, because North Korea had plenty of "talented doctors and nurses." "North Korea may not be familiar with the Internet, but it does understand the acute crisis it faces . . . ," says the notice Krisher plans to post this week on the Internet. "Politics should not play a role in assisting these helpless and homeless people in need. It is nature, not a political system, that has caused the flooding."

A U.N. team visited North Korea this month. Based on estimates provided by the North Korean government, the United Nations reported that the floods caused $15 billion worth of damage affecting 5.2 million people; 96,348 homes had been damaged, displacing 500,000 people; and 1.9 million tons of crops had been lost.

G. Faruq Achikzad, head of the U.N. Development Program office in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that he had just toured much of the affected land by helicopter.

He said that while the damage is severe, most of the homeless are living with neighbors, in schools or in other public buildings. He said he saw no one without shelter.

"You don't see misery or anything like that," Achikzad said. "The government has a very good system for dealing with this. It is very regulated and very disciplined."

In addition to the $1.2 million in cash donations, the United Nations and other international organizations have pledged $700,000 in cash and more than $1 million worth of equipment, supplies and personnel.

While that is significant, the world's complicated relationship with communist North Korea has certainly blunted the relief response.

The United States, Japan and South Korea are still trying to reach an agreement with North Korea on a deal to provide it with nuclear power reactors in exchange for a promise to halt its suspected nuclear weapons program. The deal, supported by President Clinton, has many critics in the Republican-controlled Congress.

The United States, which has no formal diplomatic relations with North Korea, is scheduled to open a liaison office in Pyongyang as early as this month. But this week the House of Representatives asked Clinton not to elevate diplomatic ties with North Korea until Pyongyang stops its nuclear program, resumes talks with South Korea, reduces its massive military presence on its border with South Korea and halts missile exports.

Japan announced this week that it will send $500,000 in aid to North Korea, but not without some scolding. Earlier this year, Japan abruptly halted its emergency rice donations when a North Korean government official said Japan was sending the rice to "atone" for its past aggression.

In its statement announcing the flood-relief aid, Japan's Foreign Ministry said Japan is satisfied that North Korea understands that the rice was offered for humanitarian reasons only. It said Japan is willing to discuss resuming rice donations.

Nowhere are the disaster relief politics more tortured than in South Korea, where a recent poll showed that 63 percent of South Koreans opposed giving flood aid.

South Korea is providing 150,000 tons of emergency rice to North Korea. But in August, the North Koreans temporarily seized a ship delivering rice and accused the crew of spying. Another South Korean rice-delivery ship was briefly forced to fly the North Korean flag.

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PYONGYANG DESCRIBES ITS LOSSES (Washington Post Chart)

Heavy rainfall between July 7 and Aug. 20 caused widespread damage across North Korea, particularly in the northern part of the country.

CASUALTIES TOTAL AFFECTED: 5.2 million people in a nation of 22 million. KILLED: 68 people.

HOMELESS: 500,000 people.

DAMAGE ESTIMATES

HOMES: 96,348 damaged. In some cases, entire villages were swept away.

CROPS: 1.9 million tons lost -- roughly one quarter of the country's production. Even before the flooding, North Korea had been facing a severe food shortage. At North Korea's request, Japan and South Korea are providing emergency rice shipments. COSTS: Damage estimates could be greater than $15 billion. So far, nine nations have agreed to send donations totalling $1.2 million. The United States has pledged $25,000. South Korea is debating its response.

U.S. GOVERNMENT DONATES $25,000 TO NORTH KOREAN FLOOD VICTIMS

Full Text of Statement by Nicholas Burns, U.S. Department of State Spokesman on September 7, 1995

Based on the findings of a UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team visit to flood-stricken North Korea, Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kent Wiedemann on September 7 determined that a disaster situation exists in North Korea. The USG will exercise disaster declaration authority to authorize the provision of $25,000 US for immediate relief assistance for the disaster victims. The disaster assistance will be disbursed through an international aid agency or through a private voluntary organization.

The government of North Korea has reported that recent heavy rains have caused serious floods in 145 counties. The most seriously affected areas are those along the Amnok River on the Chinese border, along the Chongch'on River, and around the Sangwol Reservoir in the south where a dam burst.

The North Korean Government invited a UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team to visit these areas to evaluate the seriousness of the disaster. The team has reported that 500,000 people are homeless as a result of the flooding and that cropland, cattle, and infrastructure have been destroyed. The UN's Department of Humanitarian Affairs has authorized a channel for cash contributions to be used in the purchase of clothing, blankets, medicines, kitchen utensils, and food.

In recognition of the verified need for assistance and of the DPRK decision to invite a UN assessment team, the US has decided to provide this assistance.