ROKG TO SEND RICE TO NORTH KOREA AS FLOOD RELIEF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 002828

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR CHA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2015
TAGS: PREL KS KN
SUBJECT: ROKG TO SEND RICE TO NORTH KOREA AS FLOOD RELIEF

REF: A. SEOUL 2729

B. SEOUL 2684

Classified By: A/DCM Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4 (b),(d).

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) On August 19, Assistant Minister of Unification Lee
Kwan-sei told A/DCM that the ROKG planned to announce the
following day that it had decided to provide North Korea with
100,000 metric tons of rice as well as some reconstruction
equipment as part of a flood relief package. This follows
Seoul's August 11 announcement that it would provide 10
billion South Korean won (about USD 10.4 million) of matching
flood relief assistance through NGOs (ref A). Lee said that
the damage in North Korea was great, and cited WFP estimates
that the North had lost around 100,000 tons of rice
production in the floods, which Seoul was prepared to
reimburse. In terms of the damage, Lee dismissed some NGO
claims of tens of thousand of deaths, and pointed to media
reports from Japan of hundreds of deaths and thousands of
missing as more credible. Lee claimed that the emergency
flood aid does not alter the fundamental ROKG view of the
North Korean missile launches in July and Seoul's decision to
cut off food and fertilizer aid until the North returned to
Six Party Talks. END SUMMARY.

ROKG TO PROVIDE 100,000 TONS OF EMERGENCY RICE
-------------- -


2. (C) Assistant Minister of Unification Policy and Public
Relations Lee Kwan-sei asked to meet with the A/DCM on August
19 to inform the USG of the ROKG decision to provide 100,000
metric tons of rice to North Korea and some reconstruction
equipment via Red Cross channels as the second element of its
flood relief assistance program. The decision came after
Unification Minister Lee Jeong-seok this week met with South
Korean Red Cross officials and NGOs to assess the situation
in North Korea and after the North signaled that it would
accept South Korean Red Cross assistance. Last week on
August 11, the Unification Ministry announced that the ROKG
had decided to provide the North with 10 billion South Korean
won (around USD 10.4 million) matching NGO relief assistance
(ref A). Lee Kwan-sei said that he wanted to meet with the
A/DCM because the ROKG planned to announce its decision of
rice and equipment assistance the following day (August 20).


3. (C) Lee explained that while no one knew the exact amount
of damage or causalities in North Korea, the North suffered a
lot of damage. Lee showed the A/DCM satellite images of one
village that appeared to have been washed away by flood
waters and of dams in North Korea that had been breached and
destroyed. The WFP had estimated that the floods had caused
the North to lose 100,000 metric tons worth of rice
production. While the ROKG had initially provided matching
funds for NGO relief assistance, the latest information
showed that the North needed more help to rebuild from the
flood and more assistance than South Koreans NGOs could
provide. For example, the North needed cranes and bulldozers
to repair the damaged dams.


4. (C) Asked to quantify the damage in North Korea, Lee
pointed to the Choson Sinbo, a pro-North Korean newspaper,
that reported on August 8 that July's heavy rainfall caused
"serious damage," with 549 persons dead, 295 missing, and
3,043 injured. Lee said that the North had previously used
the Choson Sinbo as a vehicle to get out it message, so these
numbers were the most authoritative report to date, a claim
that a World Food Program representative had told us on
August 8 (ref B). He also dismissed a report from Good
Friends, an NGO that works on human and economic rights for
North Koreans, that claimed that 10,000 North Koreans have
died as a result of the floods and that 1.3 to 1.5 million
were displaced.

ROKG: NO CHANGE IN POSITION ON DPRK MISSILE LAUNCHES
-------------- --------------


5. (C) Lee insisted that despite the ROKG's decision to take
a two-prong approach of (1) matching South Korean NGO relief
assistance and (2) sending rice and equipment through the Red
Cross, Seoul had not changed its position on the North Korean
missile launches. The South Korean position remained that
the South would continue to suspend bilateral rice and
fertilizer assistance to the North. This flood assistance
package, instead, was emergency humanitarian assistance. Lee
said that South Korean political and civic circles agreed on
the need to help North Korean flood victims.
STANTON