Comments on: US to Stop Food Aid to North Korea

By: smoothbore

smoothbore — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:16:49 +0000

It should be up to the ROK to provide food/assistance to their "brothers and sisters" in the North.

It's their war after all. The US should stop wasting money on North and South Korea.

Stop sending aid to the North and start making plans to bring the boys and girls back home. Both Koreas just aren't worth it.

By: GI Korea

GI Korea — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:13:03 +0000

Keep in mind that food aid will not convince the North Koreans to give up the journalists. The regime has already shown they would let hundreds of thousands of people to starve to death as long as it wasn’t the regime elite that was being effected. So far nothing has been done to make the regime elite suffer. Vigorous financial sanctions that cut off money going to the regime elite is the best way to do this.

By: gerry

gerry — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:55:52 +0000

I do not like the idea of not giving aid to people who need it, but when they do not recieve the aid given, whats the use? North Korea and its administrators are responsible for feeding their people. If they refuse to do so, they are guilty of crimes against humanity. And should be dealt with accordingly.

Perhaps the Chinese will fill the gap, as they feel more of a kinship with the North Koreans and have political reasons for keeping up the status quo. So let them do what they need to do, or let them agree with the rest of the world that another approach is needed.

By: gerry

gerry — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:48:51 +0000

LOL, what the hell is that supposed to mean?

By: a listener

a listener — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:40:36 +0000

COntrary to popular foreign belief, the U.S. does not plan to keep its forces on the Asian continent because of the fact that we do not plan on becoming the second Roman Empire. It is up to south Korea to tell us when we can come back home.

By: Ran

Ran — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:27:27 +0000

Why not play hardball with NK to get it’s own citizens back? What does the US have to lose? Obama needs to show his strength and this is a good way to show it. NK will release the prisoners and everything will go back to normal. Remember folks, the US ultimate goal is to keep a presence (troops in SK) on the Asian continent. No more, no less.

By: Jeff from Pittsburgh

Jeff from Pittsburgh — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:06:07 +0000

I think I can be a humanitarian and I struggled with this question in the 90's, when I was helping the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group, send food to North Korea for the first 90's famine.

After it was revealed that food was diverted to the army, the AFSC didn't give food again. Food aid was empowering the regime. (a common outcome for any foreign aid).

When the even the Quakers don't want to help a situation, it is really messed up.

I'm sympathy-fatigued myself. The younger SK generations seem pretty apathetic on average. It's understandable, but it annoys me.