NORTH/ SOUTH KOREA: A South Korean relief organisation releases compelling footage of orphans in North Korea

A South Korean relief organisation shows malnourished babies and toddlers in an orphanage in impoverished North Korea, which has suffered chronic food shortages for years. A South Korean relief organization shared rare footage of malnourished children in North Korea, which has suffered chronic food shortages for years. Join Together Society (JTS), an international relief group based in Seoul has been supporting several orphanages in North Korea for over a year now. Their relief goes to the Chongjin area in the northern part of the communist nation, where hardly any aid has reached due to government restrictions. According to JTS, most of the foreign aid goes into Pyongyang, which is relatively considered a privileged city. JTS says it is very careful so as to ensure its aid is distributed to where it is needed most. "We figure that everywhere in North Korea except for Pyongyang is going through similar hardships. Simply said, there is practically nothing for the children. The blankets are all worn-out, the walls and ground too thin to keep them warm and the heating systems are not functioning well," said Kim Kyeong-hee, General Manager of JTS. Kim says the North Korean government still has regulations for South Korean relief organisations to work in the country. They had their observations under wraps even though they were doing all they could to provide aid for North Korean orphans. "Although we're supporting North Korea, the North Korean government actually doesn't like us doing this," Kim added. The communist state's infrastructure outside of showcase places in the capital Pyongyang, is mostly a shambles. North Korea has little money for building and still uses power and rail lines built during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule. The flooding over the past summer has hit most of the southern half of North Korea, including the capital and some of its most productive agricultural regions. Years of mismanagement of the farming sector mean the country does not produce enough food to feed its nearly 23 million people. Famine in the mid-to-late-1990s might have killed up to 10 percent of the population, experts have said. ENDS.

ITN Source | September 8, 2007

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