North Korea
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| Dr. Yoshikazu Tokuzen, NCC moderator/ Lutheran seminary professor |
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Recently, the National Christian Council of Japan (NCCJ) brought food relief to Pyongyang on their third visit to North Korea. Following the same schedule as last year, the NCCJ visited North Korea from November 22 to 25, 1997. Dr. Yoshikazu Tokuzen, NCCJ moderator and a Lutheran professor at the Japan Lutheran College- Japan Lutheran Theological Seminary, was very proud of the project in Japan which reached double the amount of the original goal. The total came to about 10 million yen by the end of October.
The NCCJ bought cooking oil from a company in Japan for half of the net price to send to North Korea. The company also covered the transportation fees to the port of Niigata. They sent a total of 13,820 bottles, or about 23 tons of cooking oil. Corn sent to North Korea totaled US $170,000 including US $30,000 from the NCCJ, US $85,000 from the World Council of Churches and US $55,000 from the Hong Kong NCC churches.
Tokuzen explained that there were two domestic channels to deliver the food to the people. One was through a Pyongyang governmental body, the Flood Victims Rescue Committee, and the other was through the United Nations-World Food Program (UN-WFP) stationed in Pyongyang since last year. This time the cooking oil was delivered through the Flood Victims Rescue Committee and the corn went through the World Food Program. The NCCJ could not confirm to whom the delivery of food oil went, which was supposed to reach North Korea before their visit. However, the ship from Niigata to Wonsan, an east coast port of Korea, had a late departure. The NCCJ requested the Flood Victims Rescue Committee to give them a report later with the information about delivery and how many people would receive the food.
During their stay in Pyongyang, NCCJ delegates visited the UN-WFP office on November 23, located at the former Bulgarian Embassy building. Twenty-five UN staffers and 10 local staff are working there. One of them was Erich Weingartner,
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| Erich Weingartner (center) at WFP office |
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an experienced Canadian Lutheran working at the World Council of Churches. He was in charge of the Non-Government Organizational Unit of WFP in Pyongyang. Tokuzen and the others were able to talk with him for more than one hour. Weingartner said that WFP strongly believes the incoming food is being delivered to the right people, confirmed through firm networking channels in the country. He emphasized that the shortage of food in the country will continue through next year, and they will need some support for medicine and nutritious food. Children's immunity has also become low and will gradually worsen in the future.
NCCJ delegates visited the paddy fields which had been hit by the tidal wave and typhoon, about 50-km north-west from Pyongyang. Tokuzen saw heads of rice damaged by sea water which are of no use for food anymore. He said it will take several years to restore the area into usable rice fields.
He noticed that, at least, there weren't any children who looked like they were starving in Pyongyang. At a day-care center they visited close to Korea Bay seashore, all the children looked okay. This area was hit by the typhoon as well.
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Tokuzen presents a food box to a daycare center. |
| All babies looked healthy at the daycare center. |
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Since their visit was only 4-days long, they could not afford to visit many places. Tokuzen was interested in house churches,
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| Sunday services on Nov. 23 at Bongsu Church, Pyongyang, one of the two Korean Christian Federation Churches. |
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and he asked if the Japanese delegates could visit one of the churches. But they were told that did not have enough time to visit. Tokuzen believed that there might be some house churches even in North Korea since the hosts did not deny their existence. The NCCJ were treated as national guests. Their visit was televised on the morning TV news.
Staying in Pyongyang, Tokuzen felt the country has encountered a shortage of energy as western media has reported. The number of cars on the streets were limited, and electric lights were also often cut. He could take pictures anywhere except for some public areas.
In the future, the NCCJ plans to support North Korea not only with food, but also with some other relief activities. A vinyl house and solar system are a new plan being considered for the future, as well as youth and women exchanges between Japan and North Korea. The NCCJ would also like to proceed with ecumenical cooperation to show mutual support of North Korea. 
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