Talk to them: Churches urge more dialogue with N. Korea

In a sparsely furnished apartment in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, the woman stood and offered her song of faith. In deep tones of conviction that touched the listening visitors seated on the floor, she sang of "the sorrows that like sea billows roll," yet "it is well with my soul."

Other members of the small house church shared in prayer, singing, and conversation as they met by special dispensation of the government with an ecumenical delegation of Christians from America.

While the North Korean government arranged the gathering, "what it couldn't orchestrate is the genuineness of the spirituality, which was very evident," says the Rev. John McCullough, executive director of Church World Service (CWS), the humanitarian agency of 36 Christian denominations.

During a five-day visit to North Korea in November, the US delegation from CWS and the National Council of Churches (NCC) met with local congregations and the Korean Christians Federation (KCF), and delivered 420 metric tons of flour to help assuage the country's severe food shortage. Part of a year-long joint initiative by US and Korean ecumenical groups to support a peaceful resolution to the tense political and humanitarian crises, the trip also involved sessions with North and South Korean officials.

"Both political and religious leaders must wrestle with what is a just response to the vulnerability of the North Korean people," Mr. McCullough said in an interview on his return from two weeks on the peninsula.

He suggests food should not be held hostage to the political crisis, and also that there should be more recognition of the profound desires of Koreans for movement toward reconciliation.

The devastating food shortage, which has led to the deaths of more than 2 million North Koreans since 1996 persists. But international humanitarian aid to the country has been caught up in the political crisis for the past two years, as threats from North Korea regarding its nuclear weapons capability and a US policy shift rejecting bilateral negotiations have heightened tensions.

"Prior to 2001, America was the leading deliverer of humanitarian aid - some 400,000 metric tons of food commodities," McCullough says. "This year we are the fifth

provider, with the US government total having dropped enormously to 40,000 tons. In addition, the Japanese have almost eliminated their support."

[The US State Department said last month that another 60,000 tons would be donated after the World Food Program announced it would have to cut off North Korean aid due to insufficient donations.]

"We should separate the humanitarian crisis from the political crisis," McCullough emphasizes. CWS itself has delivered food shipments worth $4.5 million since 1996, paid for by Orthodox and Anglican and other Protestant denominations.

Americans also need to be sensitive to the fact that there is always more than one point of view on any situation, he adds. "As Americans, we have every reason to trust what our government tells us, but that doesn't displace the fact that there is a North Korean perspective and we need to avail ourselves of the opportunity to hear how they view the crisis.... My experience is that there are people in that government who are committed to finding a constructive relationship with the US just as they are with South Korea."

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