KSM & FES host 2020 International Conference on Humanitarian Cooperation and Peaceful Development on the Korean Peninsula
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관리자
작성일/Date
2021-01-06 14:50
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593
The Korean Sharing Movement and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation jointly hosted the 2020 International Conference on Humanitarian Cooperation and Peaceful Development on the Korean Peninsula on the 8th and 9th of December. This conference has been hosted every year since 2009 covering topics of humanitarianism, development cooperation, and Korean Peninsula peace and serves as a unique forum to bring together South Korean practitioners, academics, and North Korea related experts with their international counterparts. Due to the now all too familiar COVID-19 social distancing restrictions the conference was hosted online with limited on-site attendance. The conference was hosted over two mornings to accommodate the online participation of partners in the United States having a thirteen hour time difference with Seoul.
The topic for the first day of the conference was the “DPRK’s Humanitarian Situation in 2020” and began with welcoming comments from KSM Co-Standing President Wankyu Choi and the Friedrich Ebert Korea Office Representative Henning Effner. The session was chaired by the President of the Republic of Korea Red Cross, Heeyoung Shin, and consisted of presentations from Yeongjeon Shin (Hanyang University Medical School), Hyoungjoon Lim (World Food Programme Global Office in Seoul), and Jangho Choi (Korea institute for International Economic Policy). These presenters were joined by four discussants, Kee Park (Harvard Medical School), John Delury (Yonsei University), Jusung Lee (Korea NGO Council for Cooperation with North Korea), and Youngsik Kang (South-North Exchange and Cooperation Support Association).
In his presentation on “COVID19 and the DPRK’s Healthcare Situation”, professor Shin explained how with the onset of winter ‘suspected possible cases’ of COVID19 were steadily increasing in the DPRK and that those identified for observation by North Korean authorities had increased from 1,700 people in September to 6,175 people by November. Due to a lack of testing capacity and continued difficulties in securing personal protective equipment, the DPRK is adjudged to have carried out less than 1% of the testing that has been done in South Korea. Professor Shin also elaborated on the need for experts around the world to share up-to-date transparent information and cooperate with one another to develop a stable crisis response system to overcome the current pandemic, as well as discussing the importance of the COVAX facility for the DPRK.
Hyungjoon Lim Director of the WFP’s office in Seoul was next up with his presentation “Natural Disasters in the DPRK and Food Security” where he delivered his assessment on the stark humanitarian situation unfolding north of the border. He highlighted the regional gap with regards to children’s nutritional situation. In contrast to Pyongyang where one in ten children suffers from stunting, in Ryanggang Province the figure is one in three. He also explained the WFP’s monitoring of the impacts of summer flooding and typhoons on the North Korean harvest and stated that 28.9 million dollars is required to support the DPRK with its COVID response between October 2020 and March 2021.
The final presentation was delivered by Jangho Choi entitled “DPRK’s Foreign Trade Situation and Implications”. Choi explained that preventative efforts against COVID 19, the construction of the Pyongyang General Hospital, and an increase in medical instrument support from international organizations who had gained sanctions exemptions were the three likely causes of a post June growth in imports of medical equipment to the DPRK. He also predicted that the slump in DPRK-PRC trade due to border closures would extend into the second half of 2021 and that internal economic difficulties would increase.
A lively debate involving the presenters and the four discussants followed the presentations. Concerns were raised about the impact of border closures on the supply of necessities into North Korea. The declining availability of healthcare services and how access to hospitals would be reduced and treatments delayed was also highlighted as an area of concern. As was the winding down or cessation of humanitarian operations due to COVID related restrictions on movements. All participants expressed fears that those North Korean citizens that are most in need of humanitarian assistance will be those most adversely affected by the current situation and that significant fatalities could arise as a result.
The second day of the conference “DPRK Related Inter-Agency Cooperation Beyond 2020” was a closed door online meeting bringing together various DPRK related international organizations including those that KSM met at their previous international conference in 2019 in New York. The meeting served as a valuable opportunity for organizations to update each other on their activities, as well as make recommendations and suggestions about possible future coordination of strategies.
