아시아 10/09/07 Christians want South Korea to aid North - By John Choi, Seoul

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Christians want South Korea to aid North

Published Date: September 8, 2010

By John Choi, Seoul

Religious leaders urge the South Korean government to aid the North during a press conference

The South Korean government should accede to North Korea’s request for aid in its flood recovery efforts, Christian leaders say.

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification announced on Sept. 7 that North Korea had asked its southern rival for rice, heavy machinery and cement for flood relief operations.

President Lee Myung-bak has been reluctant to grant such requests before, fearing that the North could use the aid for military purposes.

“If the government denies rice to the North, it would be acting in an inhumane manner,” said Father Baptist John Kim Hun-il, executive secretary of the Korean bishops’ Subcommittee for Aid to North Korea.

“Rice is plentiful in South Korea with some even decaying in storehouses,” he said.

The priest said the South Korean government should accede to the North’s request and help it complete its flood relief efforts before the onset of winter.

“All these years, North Korea has asked for help only from the international community. But now it is asking South Korea for help,” said Reverend Hwang Phil-kyu, director of the Justice and Peace Committee of the National Council of Churches in Korea.

“Although both Koreas are experiencing cross-border political tensions, humanitarian cooperation and exchange should be allowed. This exchange would also help reconciliation,” he said.

Prior to the North’s request, the South Korean government had already decided to give 10 billion won (US$8.5 million) worth of relief aid including daily necessities and medicines.