CanKor Editor Interviewed on Russian Television

‘Food shortage not No.1 priority for deal’

Russia Today, 1 March 2012

Erich Weingartner, a Canadian humanitarian affairs consultant, believes the food shortage and leadership change in North Korea are not primary driving forces behind the agreement.

“The country’s always short of food,” he noted in an interview with RT, “Right now probably not as desperately in need as it was a year ago. They have just received in January some 500,000 tons of food from China, so this is not the number one priority for the particular action that’s happening right now.”

Weingartner also pointed to the fact that the agreement was actually discussed by the US and North Korea prior to Kim Jong Il’s death. However, he also noted that the present deal is not a formal agreement, but is more in line with what North Korea likes to call “words for words” and “actions for actions.”“So it depends not only on North Korea and what they do, but it also depends on how the US is going to react in the next period of time and whether or not the six-party talks process gets back on track, and what happens in that regard.”

He said the other five parties, namely South Korea, China, Russia, Japan and the United States, had to do their part in the negotiations.

As for the drills recently conducted by the US and South Korea, Weingartner took note of the fact that North Korea isn’t the only cause of concern for America in the region.

“The drills are an annual event and have to do partly with North Korea and the threat from North Korea, but also partly the US asserting its power in the region. And so it has as much to do with the US facing China and protecting its allies in Northeast Asia, as well as protecting economic interests there.”

He said China was not likely to appreciate the exercises.

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• National Post: the Significance of North Korea’s Prisoner Amnesty
• CanKor’s Jack Kim interviewed by CBC radio
• Radio interview with Charles Burton and Erich Weingartner
• Update on Humanitarian Aid to North Korea by Victor Hsu
• More CanKor in the media – Click here

DPRK Mourns Death of “Dear Leader”

The Face of Hunger in DPR Korea

After a harsh winter and floods which have devastated several harvests, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is struggling to feed itself. For a country that is mostly barren and mountainous, any reductions in food production can be devastating. Jonathan Dumont, WFP’s Head of TV Communications, recently went to the DPRK and was granted unprecedented access. Click on the image below to see what he found:

For Related Articles, click here.

For More CanKor Moving Pictures, click here.

Children pay for North Korean famine by Al Jazeera

[Exclusive footage by Reuters shows malnourished children in North Korea's countryside after winter worsens the country's food shortages. The commentary is by Al Jazeera journalist Khadija Magardie. --CanKor.]

In a hospital in Pyongyang, doctors monitor a group of weak infants, some of whom are already showing signs of malnutrition and sickness. They are the most vulnerable members of a population suffering from extreme food shortages.

According to the United Nations, one third of all children under the age of five in North Korea are malnourished, and other countries have become less interested in donating food as the “hermit kingdom” battles efforts to constrain its nuclear program.

The UN World Food Programme says public distributions are running extremely low, and they are only able to help half the people who need aid. Meanwhile, the countries rulers stage outsized military parades, and some wonder whether food donations are being siphoned off to them.

North Korea recently granted a Reuters news crew access to the country, and Al Jazeera’a Khadija Magardie reports on the plight they found.

North Korea: Hungering for Human Rights

Dr. Robert R. King

In honour of North Korea Freedom Week, the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research hosted an expert panel on Wednesday, 27 April 2011, to discuss human rights in North Korea. The panel discussion included Ambassador Robert R. King, the Obama administration’s special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, who made a presentation on recent events in the DPRK, especially how these impact the US response to the request by DPRK authorities for food assistance.

The panel was moderated by Nicholas Eberstadt, a Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Other panelists were: Ken Isaacs, VP for Programs at the humanitarian agency Samaritan’s Purse; Robert M. Collins, retired political analyst with the Strategic Studies Institute of the United States Army War College; and Chuck Downs, Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.

A video of this event can be viewed here.

Montage of North-South Family Reunions

This heart-wrenching montage portrays the pain of Korean families divided for over 60 years by geopolitical tensions. The reunions, organized by a joint North-South Red Cross task force, are often postponed or cancelled due to inter-Korean strife. For many, time is running out.

Sinologistical Violoncello-ing and German diplomacy

Grand People's Study House, DPRK

The sinologistical violoncellist and East-Asian history professor Adam Cathcart conveyed a number of interesting tidbits and resources recently. Not the least of which that North Korea has been hosting delegations of German parliamentarians.

The source for this interesting visit comes from German-language blog Nordkorea-Info. Cathcart writes:

Even if you don’t read German, or if you love the language but still find that it melts your eyes, the blog’s links are quite often to English material, the abundance and quality of which alone has value.  Unlike many other Korea blogs, the author takes the time to synthesize material in a painstaking fashion; he is careful with his conclusions and scrupulous with his documentation.

A fascinating play-by-play account can be found here.

As pièce de résistance, meet professor Cathcart and let him guide you through a German-language article about a recent visit by a German delegation to Pyongyang.

Learning liberty

The number of North Koreans defecting to South Korea has surged in recent times. More than 10,000 have defected in the last three years alone, escaping economic hardship and suffering in the isolated regime. But many defectors have trouble adjusting to their new lives in the South.

Al Jazeera TV broadcast the following episode of its programme 101 East, looking at a school that is trying to help young defectors start new lives in modern South Korea. The programme looks at the plight of those who manage to escape the DPRK, and the difficulties they face both in transit through China and once they arrive in South Korea. The school helps young defectors adjust to the challenges of their new lives.

CanKor Interviews: Jack Kim

In August 2010, CanKor caught up with Han Voice Executive Director Jack Kim during the 10th Annual International Conference on North Korean Human Rights. Below are excerpts of our conversation.

CanKor: Why is the 10th Annual International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees important?

CanKor: The topic of Human Rights in North Korea seems to divide people along ideological and sectoral lines. Is this inevitable?

CanKor: What is next for North Korean Human Rights advocacy?

CanKor: What are the next steps for Han Voice?

CanKor: What can specifically Canadian sponsorship offer?

CanKor: Do you Read CanKor?

CanKor on Relaunch of CanKor Website

Erich Weingartner, Editor of CanKor, speaks about North Korea and the new version of The CanKor Website. This Canada-North Korea news service “aims to provide information and analysis that does not get the attention it deserves in the commercial media”.

Also in this interview, Mr. Weingartner discusses North Korea’s integration into the East Asia region and the world. He also talks about Canada’s role in opening North Korea.

This 5-part interview was produced at the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia:

• Why a second version of CanKor?

• How will the 2nd version of CanKor be different?

• Are you optimistic that North Korea can integrate into the region and improve its position in the world?

• What role would you like to see Canada play in opening up North Korea?

• What can we expect from “Mr. Pak” in the new CanKor?