[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 38 (Monday, March 30, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E520]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         FAMINE IN NORTH KOREA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TONY P. HALL

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 30, 1998

  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring a grave 
situation to the attention of my colleagues.
  As we hurry away to recess, we all have many things on our minds. But 
by the time we return in a few weeks, millions of people halfway around 
the world will be facing the worse famine to threaten any people since 
a million died in Ethiopia a decade ago.
  That experience seared all who witnessed that famine's horror. And, 
as many of our colleagues know, it transformed me in a fundamental way. 
I went to Ethiopia just before the world learned what was happening 
there and watched a dozen children die in a single day. Since then, I 
have seen other famines, and genocides, and humanitarian disasters, and 
I have committed myself to doing whatever can be done to ease the 
suffering of the innocent people who always are the first to die.
  In North Korea, there are millions of such people--innocent Koreans 
who don't know anything about their government's international 
reputation, who don't follow the twists and turns of the peace talks, 
who simply want to eat. They have been plagued by successive crop 
failures due to floods and a drought, natural disasters that have 
compounded the manmade ones that we all know well.
  Now, they are out of food. Agriculture experts from the United 
Nations and seasoned aid workers from dozens of organizations agree 
that food stocks will not last beyond late April. And people inside 
North Korea now say that storehouses in a growing number of villages 
already are empty.
  Wherever blame for the famine that threatens the lives of so many 
Koreans lies, their only hope for survival is with the aid of private 
individuals and the contributions of governments. Korean-Americans, 
people of faith, and thousands of others are joining an initiative 
launched in South Korea to remember the people of North Korea during a 
world day of fasting and prayer that begins on April 24.
  The list of organizations who have joined together in support of this 
one-day fast is an impressive one. Presbyterians, Methodists, National 
Council of Churches, Lutherans, Christian Reformed, and other churches 
are involved. United Way, Bread for the World, Mercy Corps, World 
Vision, ADRA, the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, Holt International, Food 
for the Hungry--the list is a long one, and growing. And Korean-
Americans have been at the forefront, with the initiative endorsed by 
the Korean American Sharing Movement, the Korea Society, and others.
  I urge my colleagues to join us on April 24. Candlelight vigils are 
planned in communities around the United States, Canada, and South 
Korea to help alert the world that this silent famine is claiming many 
people who are outside the range of TV cameras. The Council on Foreign 
Relations, one of the most respected organizations in our country, 
recently estimated that a million people already have died in North 
Korea, based on its evaluation of the numerous reports of famine 
deaths.
  We can be proud of the United States for what it has done to help the 
ordinary people of North Korea. The military, the elites--those people 
always eat in any crisis. But our country has stood up for the little 
people, leading the international response to this crisis and insisting 
that the food is monitored to ensure that it does not end up in the 
military or government's hands. We have been joined in this by our 
allies, but there are alarming signs that they are imposing a political 
agenda on humanitarian aid.
  The European Union has just announced that it will not contribute 
food to North Korea, complaining that reform has not come quickly 
enough. Most people agree that North Korea must change, but few would 
starve a nation's citizens to try to change its government's ways.
  Japan continues to use food as a weapon, letting millions of people 
just across the channel starve while it presses for answers about 
several Japanese people it charges North Korean spies abducted during 
the past 20 years. Its stinginess is particularly appalling because 
Japan is now paying $380 million just to store its surplus rice. To put 
that sum into perspective, the cost of storage alone is roughly equal 
to the total amount of humanitarian aid the United Nations has 
requested.
  And China shows no sign that it will change its pattern of donating 
food to North Korea without any assurance that it will reach the people 
who are suffering.
  I hope that our country will continue to lead the way in providing 
humanitarian aid, and that our example will spur others to do the right 
thing. A century ago, Ireland's famine claimed a million people--while 
just across the channel, the superpower of the 1800s ate well. History 
judged Britain harshly for its failure to act, and I doubt it will be 
more forgiving of Japan and others who ignore the clear evidence that 
ordinary people in North Korea are starving today. It is not enough 
that we live in a country that is responding more humanely than others. 
We all have plenty to eat, so much that few of us every feels hunger's 
pangs. On April 24, I hope that you will join with me in sharing that 
experience.
  I know from firsthand experience that the survivors of any crisis 
remember those who helped them, and they never forget those who found 
an excuse to do nothing, or do too little, to save their families and 
friends. The people of North Korea are beyond the reach of TV cameras, 
beyond the reach--so far--of democracy, almost beyond hope as they head 
into six months with no food supply.
  But they are not beyond our prayers. On April 24, please join me and 
thousands of others in praying and fasting for the ordinary people of 
North Korea.

                          ____________________