South Korea is forging ahead with its softer approach on North Korea, providing some economic assistance with humanitarian aid through U.N. agencies and keeping a dialogue open. But doing so, especially in light of the recent North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile tests, has put South Korea at odds with its U.S. and Japanese counterparts.
At the Sept. 21 Inter-Korean Exchanges and Cooperation Promotion Council, South Korea's Unification Ministry decided to disburse around $8 million in aid to North Korea through U.N. agencies — $4.5 million through the World Food Program and $3.5 million through UNICEF. South Korea announced last week that it was planning to provide the funds, which were requested by the agencies in May and July respectively. Seoul is still considering disbursement of $6 million for a North Korean census through the United Nations as well. South Korean President Moon Jae In said at the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 21 that Seoul didn't seek the collapse of the government in Pyongyang and reiterated its offers of assistance if North Korea opts for peace.
Benchmarked against earlier packages, these disbursements are relatively small. With the exceptions of 1999, 2000 and 2016, South Korea has provided on average $11.79 million in aid per year to North Korea for the past two decades, for a total of $247.67 million. The most recent amount is particularly noteworthy because progressive leaders such as Moon have historically given more aid. Even the administration of Moon's conservative predecessor, Park Geun Hye, provided high levels of aid, with a peak of $12.5 million in 2014. (Park did, however, suspend aid following 2016 missile and nuclear tests).
The South Korean government argues that the aid is not incompatible with sanctions pressure on Pyongyang and that it's permissible under the most recent U.N. Security Council resolution. Japan, however, has pushed back. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged Moon in a telephone call last week to reconsider his strategy. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also followed up Sept. 21, saying that South Korea must avoid actions that would undermine pressure being put on North Korea. In the wake of the Sept. 3 North Korean nuclear test, U.S. President Donald Trump accused South Korea of "appeasement" in its calls for outreach and dialogue. Trump met one-on-one with Moon on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly and this was likely a topic of discussion.
The difference in strategies has not deterred South Korea from its softer approach with North Korea, though Seoul has said it will link the timing of the aid with North Korean behavior — a difference from its earlier no-strings-attached stance. The South Korean administration began its outreach in May, offering to begin talks on civilian exchanges and lowering tension along their shared border. But these efforts have fallen flat: North Korea continued to reject a dialogue. The aid is one of the low-level unilateral options left. And, even in this case, there is still no guarantee that Pyongyang will accept the assistance.
