SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues exchanged views on North Korea's food situation when he met with South Korean officials Tuesday, but the discussions did not include resuming aid to the impoverished nation, an official said.
Robert King, who arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a six-day trip, met with South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac and other senior foreign ministry officials for talks on Pyongyang's human rights record, North Korean defectors and other related issues, the official said.
King's trip followed reports that North Korea recently asked the U.S. to send food aid and that Washington reviewed the request positively. Officials in Washington, including Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, have since said the U.S. has no immediate plans to provide food to the destitute nation.
"There was no talk of providing food aid" to the North, the ministry official said on condition of anonymity. "But as we talked about the human rights situation, we exchanged assessments of the food situation in North Korea."
The official also said that Washington's position on food aid to the North was clarified in Campbell's comments that the U.S. "continues to monitor the humanitarian situation in North Korea but has no plans for any contributions at this time."
Seoul's assessment of the food situation in the North was similar to that of the U.S. as they are based on objective data released by international organizations like the World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the official said.
According to the data, the North is estimated to have produced about 5.33 million tons of food last year, about 800,000 tons short of its annual need. Considering the country can import about 300,000 tons from overseas, it is expected to be short of some 500,000 tons this year, the official said.
After a series of meetings, King told reporters that he had "very good, very serious, very thoughtful discussions" and that it is "extremely important for the United States, as we pursue our policies towards North Korea, to coordinate with the government of South Korea." He did not elaborate.
North Korea has relied on outside assistance to feed its hunger-stricken 24 million population since natural disasters and mismanagement devastated its economy in the mid-1990s. The country's food situation is believed to have worsened in recent years after the South cut off unconditional aid.
Deepening Pyongyang's economic woes were tougher sanctions that the United Nations, South Korea, the U.S. and other nations imposed on the communist nation for its nuclear tests and military provocations, such as the November shelling of the South's border island of Yeonpyeong and the March sinking of the warship Cheonan.
South Korea appears to be negative about aid resumption to the North because it could undercut international pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programs and take responsibility for last year's attacks.
North Korea has stepped up peace overtures toward the South as its economic woes have deepened in the wake of economic sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons programs and military provocations. Seoul views Pyongyang's moves as a ploy to win economic aid.
On Tuesday, military officers from the two sides met at the border village of Panmunjom to set up higher-level defense talks, the first such cross-border meeting since the November attack on the island.
South Korean officials briefed King on the military meeting, and the U.S. envoy expressed hope that the North would take a serious attitude at the talks, the official said.
This is King's second trip to South Korea since he took office in late 2009. He previously traveled here in January of last year. On Thursday, King plans to meet with Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, who is in charge of Seoul's relations with Pyongyang.
King led the U.S. legislation of the North Korean Human Rights Act in 2004.
jschang@yna.co.kr
Robert King, who arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a six-day trip, met with South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac and other senior foreign ministry officials for talks on Pyongyang's human rights record, North Korean defectors and other related issues, the official said.
King's trip followed reports that North Korea recently asked the U.S. to send food aid and that Washington reviewed the request positively. Officials in Washington, including Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, have since said the U.S. has no immediate plans to provide food to the destitute nation.
"There was no talk of providing food aid" to the North, the ministry official said on condition of anonymity. "But as we talked about the human rights situation, we exchanged assessments of the food situation in North Korea."
The official also said that Washington's position on food aid to the North was clarified in Campbell's comments that the U.S. "continues to monitor the humanitarian situation in North Korea but has no plans for any contributions at this time."
Seoul's assessment of the food situation in the North was similar to that of the U.S. as they are based on objective data released by international organizations like the World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the official said.
According to the data, the North is estimated to have produced about 5.33 million tons of food last year, about 800,000 tons short of its annual need. Considering the country can import about 300,000 tons from overseas, it is expected to be short of some 500,000 tons this year, the official said.
After a series of meetings, King told reporters that he had "very good, very serious, very thoughtful discussions" and that it is "extremely important for the United States, as we pursue our policies towards North Korea, to coordinate with the government of South Korea." He did not elaborate.
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Robert King (L), the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, speaks to Seoul's main nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac during a meeting in Seoul on Feb. 8. (Yonhap) |
North Korea has relied on outside assistance to feed its hunger-stricken 24 million population since natural disasters and mismanagement devastated its economy in the mid-1990s. The country's food situation is believed to have worsened in recent years after the South cut off unconditional aid.
Deepening Pyongyang's economic woes were tougher sanctions that the United Nations, South Korea, the U.S. and other nations imposed on the communist nation for its nuclear tests and military provocations, such as the November shelling of the South's border island of Yeonpyeong and the March sinking of the warship Cheonan.
South Korea appears to be negative about aid resumption to the North because it could undercut international pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programs and take responsibility for last year's attacks.
North Korea has stepped up peace overtures toward the South as its economic woes have deepened in the wake of economic sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons programs and military provocations. Seoul views Pyongyang's moves as a ploy to win economic aid.
On Tuesday, military officers from the two sides met at the border village of Panmunjom to set up higher-level defense talks, the first such cross-border meeting since the November attack on the island.
South Korean officials briefed King on the military meeting, and the U.S. envoy expressed hope that the North would take a serious attitude at the talks, the official said.
This is King's second trip to South Korea since he took office in late 2009. He previously traveled here in January of last year. On Thursday, King plans to meet with Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, who is in charge of Seoul's relations with Pyongyang.
King led the U.S. legislation of the North Korean Human Rights Act in 2004.
jschang@yna.co.kr
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