[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR]North still needs food aid

It is incredibly foolish of North Korea to have asked the UN to stop its food aid program. North Korea’s lack of agricultural technology resulted in years of famine and crop failures, and an inability to produce enough food to feed its people. It is a widely-known fact that even with the large amount of foreign food aid received, fair and sufficient food distribution was very difficult. North Korea surely knows that better than any nation. The World Food Program has been demanding closer observation of the North’s food distribution process. Some experts agree that North Korea refused more food aid because the North’s government became frustrated with the program’s intervention. The North might have feared that such political intervention from an outside force may disrupt its political control over the nation. It is true that North Korea loves to have everything concerning itself under complete control. Nevertheless, this can never be a good enough excuse for letting its people starve or degrading their human rights even further. The longer the North stays on its old track, shooing away international society, the more isolated it will become.

by Kim Hyo-Jeong