United Methodists are being asked to respond to the threat of widespread famine in North Korea.
The Rev. S. Michael Hahm, executive secretary for Korea of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries' World Division, said the loss of crops after devastating floods last August has created a "desperate" need in that Asian nation.
According to United Nations officials, the floods destroyed 1.5 million tons of grain and left about half a million people homeless.
Hahm is working with the Rev. Lloyd Rollins, UMCOR's disaster coordinator, to obtain a license from the U.S. government allowing UMCOR to ship relief supplies to North Korea.
On Jan. 3, UMCOR established Emergency Advance #226435-0, North Korea Emergency, as a channel for donating money.
Hahm, who also is chairman of the ecumenical Korea Church Coalition for Peace, Justice and Reunification, has sent letters to Korean-American United Methodist congregations requesting assistance. "Other denominations have done the same thing," he said.
The Korea Methodist Church & Institute of Manhattan, for example, sent a check of $10,000 at the end of December. That congregation also had made an earlier donation of $3,000, according to Hahm.
In a letter to Hahm, church trustee Sung-Eun S. Kim noted that the donation "represents a voice in our Korean-American immigrant community -- a voice that is neither political nor ideological, but that simply is a call to reach out to our sisters and brothers in need, struggling in that northern part of the Korean Peninsula to which we trace our common cultural and ethnic heritage. It is hoped that this voice will be echoed and amplified by others in our community."
According to information from the United Nations,hunger is widespread in the provinces of North Pyongan, North Hwanghae and Chagang, along with malnutrition in Chagang, where the food shortage is most acute.
A critical need also exists for non-food items such as blankets, clothing, shoes and kitchen sets, particularly in North Pyongan. Coal is needed for heating and cooking.
Jan. 8, 1996
Donations can be made through the UMCOR North Korea Emergency, Advance #226435-0, and left in United Methodist church collection plates or mailed to 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. For more information, call (800) 814-8765. For instructions in Korean, call (800) 636-0905.
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