_WORLD WATCH______________________________
____________________ KOREA ________________

Humanitarian crisis continues
Koreans fear military action
Representatives of Catholic charitable groups working in North Korea have told the Fides news agency that the people of that country still face a “humanitarian crisis,” which can only be aggravated by military confrontation.

Kathy Zellweger, the Swiss-born head of Caritas Hong Kong, told Fides that although the country’s economic crisis reached a peak in 1996-1997, the conditions of life for ordinary North Koreans remain grim. “People struggle to survive: finding food for the day is always the major concern,” she said. Zellweger acknowledged that the government of North Korea has been classified by US President George W. Bush as a “rogue state.” But that designation does not alter her determination to help the people there, she said. “As Christians we cannot watch people die while waiting for the political situation to improve,” she explained.

Father Polycarp Choe, a former director of Caritas in South Korea, told Fides: “I agree that any country that oppresses its people should be called ‘evil’” —although he quickly added that North Korea is not the only country in that category. And he added that the Pyongyang regime “spends huge amounts of money for warfare although the people are starving.” Nevertheless, Father Choe argued that “military action against North Korea would be a disaster for the entire peninsula.” He pointed out that the South Korean people are fearful of the bellicose rhetoric from Washington, since any military engagement would be likely to take a heavy toll on their country, as well as destroy any hopes for the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula.