North Korea Continues to Extort the South
North Korea is making new demands on South Korea by demanding 500,000 tons of fertilizer for the upcoming spring planting season.
South Korea has been agonizing over a recent request from North Korea for an “unusually” large volume of fertilizer aid, officials in Seoul said Sunday.
According to the Korean National Red Cross (KNRC), the North’s Red Cross sent a telephone message on Jan. 13 asking for 500,000 tons of fertilizer for this spring.
It marks a large increase from the 300,000 tons that Seoul has shipped to the North every year _ 200,000 tons in the spring and the remaining 100,000 tons in the autumn _ since the historic 2000 inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, with the exception of 2001.
South Korea has so far provided some 1.55 million tons of free fertilizer to the North, which has been relying on outside assistance since 1995 to help feed its 24 million people.
“Annual fertilizer aid toward the North has never exceeded 300,000 tons,” a KNRC executive told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. “The one-time request for 500,000 tons, valued at about 140 billion won ($130 million), is seen as quite exceptional.”
I can’t imagine the South Korean government will turn down the request, but I can’t help but think, what the hell is South Korea getting out of this? Is the Mt. Kumgang tours worth being treated like somebodies lap dog? South Korea has serious leverage on the North with all the fertilizer they give to them. They should use this leverage to help the international community contain the North Korean nuclear program instead of just continually giving them free stuff with nothing in return. Pretty soon Kim Jong Il will be demanding Tiburon sports cars and LG flat screen TV’s. Where do you draw the line?
It is so ironic that a country with a nuclear program can’t afford to buy their own fertilizer. But then again why should you buy your own fertilizer when somebody is willing to give it to you for free?
