Aiding the Citizens of North Korea may be Hard to Accomplish, but it is Possible

With the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 Virus, the humanitarian crisis in North Korea has become even more dire. A humanitarian crisis is when any event or series of events directly threatens a group of people’s lives, livelihoods, or access to fundamental needs. Due to the restrictions that COVID has had on trade, North Korea can not supply food to their citizens, causing over 40% to suffer from malnutrition. It is obvious that North Korea is in need of help. Other powers such as the United Nations should supply humanitarian aid toward the country, even if North Korea is an “enemy” of the other powers, as it is the people’s duty to help others in need and supply basic human rights.

North Korea has always had humanitarian problems in the reign of the supreme leaders. Even with plentiful humanitarian aid in food, famine will remain, and a large part of North Koreans rely on roots and edible grasses. North Korea’s management is a big cause of the humanitarian crisis: instead of using the economy to help the people, under the paranoia of attacks from other countries, they spend most of the money toward funding military efforts. In this time of world crisis, North Korea should acknowledge the help other countries can give and halt spending under the threat of war and use humanitarian aid to bolster its people.

It is the duty of the more fortunate to help the less fortunate and this should be the case with North Korea in its less than pleasant conditions. To help North Korea, the people need agreement on both sides. The North Korean government should allow humanitarian agencies to reach out and help, and not bar them due to potential privacy breaches. This may be hard to accomplish as this pandemic has increased the security of North Korea by a lot. As for the other nations’ humanitarian efforts, they should monitor how North Korea is doing from legal documentation and observations from organizations within the country. By being present and watching North Korea’s situation, the other nations, with agreement from both governments, can supply sufficient aid to keep improving the lives of the North Korean citizens in this hard time.

Timothy L.