Germany’s Der Spiegel has an interview with Bernd Goken, head of the German relief organization Cap Anamur. He recently returned from an 8-day visit to North Korea. What he discovered is shocking, as is his claim that North Korea’s sponsor China is refusing to even sell food to Western relief organizations trying to feed the North Korean people.
SPIEGEL: You have just spent eight days traveling in North Korea. What did you see?
Göken: We visited orphanages, schools and clinics, and the same misery predominates in each — there is barely any food left. We saw emaciated children and elderly women on the edge of the road stuffing weeds into their mouths.
SPIEGEL: How many people have been affected by the food shortages?
Göken: The World Food Program estimates between 5 and 6 million. At least 400,000 tons of grain is lacking.
SPIEGEL: What enabled the disaster to happen?
Göken: The extreme winter, with temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) destroyed large parts of the year’s crops. In addition, they are also lacking modern equipment — I didn’t see any tractors in the fields. Nor can one say that there is effective crisis management on the part of the government.
SPIEGEL: Under these conditions, do sanctions against North Korea still make sense?
Göken: They punish the wrong people. We cannot leave the children, pregnant women and elderly to die — it is not their fault that they have to live under this regime.
SPIEGEL: Shouldn’t North Korea’s partner, China, be rushing as the first to provide aid?
Göken: There are no relief deliveries from Beijing. The Chinese have even refused to sell rice to our organization intended for delivery to North Korea. We have had to purchase it from Thailand.
The full story his here.