The Arduous March: North Korea,1997
Upon my arrival in Pyongyang, in early June 1997, my fourth visit to North Korea, I sensed a changed atmosphere. People were moving slowly and grimly along the roads leading into the city; women were plucking wild grasses in the parks apparently for food for their families; stores were dark. My hosts informed me that the food shortages, which had begun with crop failures in 1995, were now very serious, but that everyone was working hard to overcome the difficulties. The Party, they said, had termed this period the Arduous March (Konan eui Haenggun), echoing the forced march through deep winter made by Kim Il Sung and his band in Manchuria during the struggle against Japanese colonial occupation. It was time, my hosts informed me, for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the Quaker humanitarian aid organization which I represented, to change the focus of their program from dialogue to practical assistance.
Humanitarian Crisis Requires New Approach
The seriousness of the situation and urgency of my visit was indicated by the fact that, unlike all past trips, there were no visits to monuments and museums on my schedule. Instead, almost every meeting that I suggested, and others added by my hosts, focused on analysis of the food crisis and discussions of how AFSC might respond. I met with representatives of government agencies as well as with offices of international relief organizations operating in the country. All were involved in relief efforts and were able to provide concrete information on the situation in the countryside. In a side conversation my counterpart, with whom I had developed a good working relationship with over several visits, underlined the urgency of the situation. “Our survival is at stake now,” he said. The cultural exchanges of the past, on peace and education, were useful, but now is the time to do something practical.
As they did with most aid agencies, my counterparts first asked that AFSC simply send in food aid and fertilizer, and that the authorities would distribute them to the neediest areas. They said that our relationship should be based on trust, building on the collaborative work of the past. I explained that AFSC was not a large-scale aid organization, and that new funding would have to be solicited from our supporters for this effort. And, in order to raise funds, it was important that we could see the situation for ourselves. My hosts listened but made no commitment.
For this new direction of our program, it was more necessary than ever that a strong trust exist between AFSC and our hosts. I had been alerted by other NGOs and international organizations of problems that we would probably encounter in ensuring that our aid reached those most in need. Monitoring delivery of food and medicines from the port or railroad depots to the designated locations and institutions was in the hands of the Koreans. While donors could visit the locations after the material assistance arrived and was distributed, the careful accounting that most aid organizations were used to was not possible. So, trust and verify (as much as possible) was the catchword. On this trip I got my first taste of this delicate balance, and I am not sure that I performed well.
Where Did the Medicines Go?
I had not wanted to arrive empty handed during such an emergency situation. So, with the assistance of contacts in China, I had purchased about 1000 dollars worth of critical medicines, including antibiotics, to carry with me. The two large boxes of medicines were turned over to my hosts at the airport. We agreed that they would be delivered to a health clinic in a more remote neighborhood of Pyongyang which my wife and I had visited during our 1995 trip to the country. Two days after my arrival I was taken to the clinic for the formal presentation of the medicines in the presence of the head of our host organization. The medicines had been brought separately and were now in two new, sealed boxes. I formally presented the boxed medicines to the head of the clinic who expressed her deep appreciation. The boxes were not opened, but I was given a document stating AFSC’s contribution and listing the medicines to provide to the clinic. I glanced at the document and noticed that the number of items was less by about 20% than the amounts I had purchased in Beijing. My oversensitive antennae went up. Had some critical medicines and drugs been withheld for use by others?
Back in the car, I asked Mr. Tong, my guide/interpreter, about the difference. He said that all medicines coming into the country, and especially from China, had to undergo a quality check by the appropriate health authorities. Some samples from the medicines had been kept for further testing. He assured me that these additional medicines would be delivered to the clinic after testing was completed. But my suspicions had aroused. I wondered if some higher ups had taken a share of the desperately needed medicines. I blurted out that perhaps I should have opened the rewrapped boxes to make sure the medicines I bought were there. This brought a strong reaction from Mr. Tong. He insisted that the driver turn the car around and head back to the clinic. I stopped him and we continued back into the city. This incident opened the way for a frank conversation about delivering and receiving material assistance. I noted that AFSC was being asked for a large contribution of fertilizer, worth some $100,000, and so building trust was essential. It was OK, I said, if some of the medicines are urgently needed elsewhere, but that he should inform me of this, and that we have agreement. At the airport, just before my departure several days later, Mr. Tong presented me with a signed receipt from the clinic and again assured me that all the medicines would be delivered.
Famine Face to Face
Following this incident at the health clinic my visit went smoothly. Based on my meetings with both Korean government departments as well as international agencies, it was clear that a food emergency existed, and that famine conditions could soon develop. However, in order to lay the basis for the Quakers to raise relief funds and for the delivery of aid, it was important for me to see conditions in the rural areas where the need was greatest. I proposed to my hosts that one collective farm be identified which I could visit and which AFSC could support with material assistance. Toward the end of my visit, I was informed that my proposal had been approved and that a farm had been selected. This was an expression of trust on the side of our hosts. They trusted that AFSC would not abuse its access by sensationalizing the situation, and that the visit would open the way to rapid and substantial aid directly to the farm. I made a commitment on both counts, trusting that AFSC could actually follow through.
On the last full day of my visit, we drove approximately two hours north to Sambong Cooperative Farm. There I saw clear evidence of famine conditions in the bodies of the young children. Though I thought I was prepared for it, I was almost overcome when I saw the fifty or so little children at the nursery. After all the talk about food shortages, to see its direct impact on these little ones was an emotional moment for me. They were trying hard to put on a little song and dance for me, but the strain showed in their faces. I was in front of them for only a few minutes and did not inspect them closely. But I looked carefully from child to child, and it was clear that some were badly malnourished with thin reddish hair, tight dark skin, and all very small and thin. I suspect that they had a long rest after I left. I was told that ten children did not attend at all because they were too sick. Another ten are sent home at lunch time, because their families did not have enough to contribute the modest amount of their ration to the nursery, which is required. I have already described the shocking condition of the children.
I also visited the community clinic where there were few patients because, I was told, there were no medicines or supplies. One positive note: I observed the mid-day meal being prepared for the children. It consisted of a porridge prepared from a corn-soy blend that was tasteless, but apparently nourishing. The kitchen staff brought out one of the bags in which the blend had been delivered, and I was surprised to see the USAID (handshake) logo and the USA flag. This indicated that official aid was reaching the intended beneficiaries, and this was further encouragement for our own program.
I met with the farm manager and other leaders who described the urgent need for fertilizer for the next rice crop. I learned that Sambong Farm was composed of 2,500 persons in 550 households. They farmed 2,300 hectares of good farmland, 1,600 of which was planted to rice. Before the floods, they said, the harvest had reached eight tons per hectare. But the last two harvests (1995 and 1996) they were able to harvest only about 2.9 tons per hectare. They had been allocated a limited amount of fertilizer for the current season, but it would yield at most three to four tons per hectare. They requested that AFSC provide an additional 500 tons of fertilizer that would enable them to increase the harvest by three to four tons. I replied that I would bring this information and recommendation to my organization and that a response would be communicated as soon as possible.
Stumbling over Good Intentions
There was a relatively minor incident that occurred while traveling back to Pyongyang that again illustrated the learning curve that I was on. Growing more confident in my Korean language ability, I had begun speaking to our driver who apparently spoke no English. I hoped to cultivate a more informal atmosphere and some goodwill. At one point, in addressing driver Kim, I used the same term of address used by Mr. Tong and others: Kim tongmu. I was surprised to be firmly scolded by Mr. Tong for using the term “comrade” when I was definitely not a member of the Party, nor even a citizen. In my attempt to generate goodwill, I had crossed a line that I didn’t know existed. In fact, I was discouraged from using Korean to directly address any of the farm officials and others with whom we met, and to always work through an interpreter. As a further precaution, Mr. Tong, and others I worked with after that, would caution those with whom we met that I spoke Korean. This was apparently in order to prevent their sharing information that had not been transmitted through the interpreter. In any other country, speaking the local language would be considered an advantage; not so in North Korea.
A New Working Relationship
I was deeply affected by this first visit to a rural area in North Korea. There was the emotional impact caused by seeing malnutrition and near starvation up close and real. I actually cried when I was alone back at the hotel in Pyongyang. There was also the evidence of trust shown by my hosts, as well as confirmation that our counterpart could facilitate the delivery of aid to an area of real need. Our agreement to work together to shift our cooperation from peacebuilding exchanges to material assistance was confirmed at the dinner that I hosted for our counterparts the last evening of my visit.
The level of trust that had been developed between our host organization and AFSC over the years was further confirmed at the airport the next morning. While representatives of other aid organizations went through the normal and tedious exit process, I was ushered into the VIP lounge where an aid took my passport and handled the processing. There, I was introduced to the new Chief of the International Department of the Worker’s Party, Mr. Kim Yang Gon. On the tarmac, just before I boarded the plane, he took me aside and expressed appreciation for AFSC’s cooperation in the past and encouraged us to now focus on practical aid. He sent formal greetings to AFSC’s Executive Director and urged AFSC to work towards better relations between the United States and the DPRK. This exchange took place in full view of others waiting on the shuttle bus. This is when I realized that, if AFSC could not supply the fertilizer for Sambong farm, I had better not show my face in North Korea again. Fortunately, I was able to return to North Korea several weeks later, following the shipment of 480 tons of urea fertilizer to Sambong farm. This was the beginning of an AFSC agriculture support program that continued for the next twenty years.
