Seoul's
Dong-a Ilbo reports (
North Korea Secretly Hoarding and Selling Ryongchon Relief
Supplies):
[Tokyo newspaper] Sankei Shimbun reported on February
15 that relief goods such as medical supplies and food aid were
being traded within North Korean markets. The goods had been sent
to the North by the international community including the World
Food Programme (WFP), South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, after the
explosion of the Ryongchon train station in North Pyongan Province
last April.
The newspaper reported this fact, quoting a member of RENK, a
Japanese civil group, from video clips and voice recordings taken
in Chongjin last July.
The video shows sacks of rice and corn on display in stands at the
Soonam market in Chongjin. Some of them have the words, "gift from
the U.S.," in Korean and the Stars and Stripes printed on
them.
Greed, desperation, or both. Note the Japanese aid: the public
there is already concerned about the DPRK's kidnapping of Japanese
citizens and the stonewalling and deceptive responses by the North
to demands for information as to their whereabouts.