Following the tradition of refraining from dealing with North Korea’s criminal activities and human rights violations, South Korea skips an Interpol meeting on North Korean counterfeiting

SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) — South Korea chose not to attend a meeting called by Interpol this week to discuss alleged currency counterfeiting by North Korea, South Korean officials said Saturday.

“We thought it’s unnecessary (to attend the meeting), as its agenda had nothing special,” an official at the National Police Agency said, requesting anonymity.

“It’s not unusual not to attend such a meeting which is convened from time to time. Participation is subject to each Interpol member nation’s discretion,” he said.

The meeting was held in Lyon, France on July 26.

The Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp. also said it was aware of the meeting but decided to stay away.

“We were notified of the meeting a few days ago, and decided not to attend it, as it was to handle only forged U.S. dollars,” an official at the state-run company said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

I’m guessing South Korea is gonna return its stake in the international community very soon.

Why isn’t North Korea accepting emergency food aid from the WFP? DailyNK explains

The North Korean government has not responded to the offer from the WFP (World Food Program), which would provide flood sufferers with emergency food aid.

On the 26th, Paul Leslile, spokesperson of the WFP office in Bangkok, stated, “The WFP has offered to provide residents of Sungcheon, South Pyongan province, which has been damaged by heavy raining, with food aid. However, the North Korean government has not yet agreed to accept the offer.”

Regarding possible reasons for the North Korean hesitation, the spokesperson explained, “If the North Korean government accepts the WFP aid, it will have to allow the WFP to monitor the food distribution.” Because the North Korean government does not want the flood disaster to be internationally publicized, it has refused to accept the aid

It was only a massive rainstorm that hit the entire Korean Penninsula. It gets worse.

Although Kim Jong Il witnessed thousands of people die of starvation in the mid-90’s, he is still hesitatant to receive food aid, as it would reveal internal strife to the international community.

On October 10 of last year, in celebration of the founding of the Party, North Korea resumed food rationing and ordered Pyongyang office staff to withdraw, while at the same time refusing aid from international relief organizations. This was a face-saving measure by the government, which truly did not possess the resources to carry out such an action.

Now, Kim Jong Il remains silent in order to save face, and hide the reality of the emergency, placing his dignity over the lives his people.

It’s one thing to believe a government can take care of its own people without outside help, it’s another to believe your own people cannot help themselves. Because of flood and famine, these two trains of though become a lethal combination. The government cannot feed its own people, the government won’t let it people feed themselves. The concept of a government saving face would not be existant if it did revolve around a single person. As a result, until North Koreans are ready to assert themselves, more people will starve and there is little the world can do about it.

Two new guests have joined the party, the fireworks guy still no where in sight

KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the United States opened a group meeting here Friday with eight of their shared allies to discuss a broad range of Northeast Asian security issues.

The informal gathering, chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, brought together top officials also from China, Russia, Japan, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia, and New Zealand.

North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun did not show up at the largely symbolic meeting despite intensive efforts to avert its boycott of any multilateral talks on its missile and nuclear program on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) under way in Kuala Lumpur.

Paek said earlier that his country can’t rejoin the six-way talks on its nuclear program amid the U.S. sanctions against the communist state, according to South Korean delegates at an Asian security meeting.

The minister even threatened to quit the ARF if it adopts a joint statement denouncing the missile tests when it ends later in the day.

The participating nations in the 10-way meeting stressed that it was not aimed at further isolating North Korea.

“It’s going to be a general discussion on (security) issues in Northeast Asia,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters. “It’s not a new grouping, just a discussion.”