North Korean Nuclear Program Costs Flood Victims Aid

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AS IT IS

North Korean Nuclear Program Costs Flood

Victims Aid
October 11, 2016

Nearly 600,000 people need urgent assistance because of recent severe ooding in
North Korea as the winter season approaches.
Large amounts of water from a typhoon hit villages near the Tumen River in
September. e river runs along the borders with China and Russia.
Non-governmental organizations report that at least 138 people have died. Reports also
say 400 people are missing and that the ooding has forced 70,000 people to leave
their homes.
Some call this one of the worst humanitarian disasters to aect North Korea since the
1990s. At that time, lack of rain and poor harvests led to reports of starvation across
the country.
e recent oods have destroyed 20,000 homes and many schools and hospitals.
Floodwaters also damaged 30,000 hectares of crops that were almost ready for harvest.
Paolo Fattori is the North Korea program director for Save the Children, an
international childrens rights organization. Fattori says the ood victims need clean
water, food and new shelters. ese are all needed in the next few weeks, before the
temperatures in the region drop below freezing.
In all the areas there is a strong need for support, actually because this event occurred
at the end of the summer season, which means that the time to respond is very, very
short, Fattori said.

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e United Nations Childrens Fund and other organizations together are asking for
$28.2 million in aid. ey say money is needed both right away for urgent needs and
for long-term assistance. is includes rebuilding homes, schools, hospitals and
repairing damaged water supply and sanitation systems.
Currently the fund to help North Korea has collected only about $6.5 million.
Humanitarian organizations say that is far less than what is needed.
However, raising money for North Korean humanitarian aid is dicult because of the
countrys nuclear weapons program.
e North Korean government has carried out ve nuclear tests since 2006. Two of the
tests took place this year. North Korea has also carried out land-based and submarine
launched missile tests this year. As a result, the United Nations Security Council, South
Korea and the U.S have placed sanctions on North Korea.
United States ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power visited South Korea.
She has discussed the need to increase international economic sanctions and military
defense against North Korea.
On Sunday, Power said those with emergency aid to oer the country cannot be sure
their money and assistance will go to the people in need.
Humanitarian organizations say the aid for North Korea is used to directly help victims
and aected areas. ey say money is not given to or controlled by the government.
Most of the funds are going to international procurement [of ] specic materials that
are needed, Fattori said. No funds are directly managed by the local government, in
the case of Save e Children for sure.
e South Korean government still is not providing any ood aid to the North.
South Korean ocials warn that any aid would at some time be used to support the
government of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. ey say he is spending billions of
dollars on nuclear and missile tests while most of his people live in poverty.

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Jeong Joon-hee is the spokesman for the South Korean Uni

Uni cation Ministry. He
recently said, While North Korea is putting forth a huge amount of money and eort
for provocations,
provocations it is [clear] our well-meaning purpose could be distorted if we
provide support for the ood damage.e North Korean government says it
has brought 200,000 people together to help with the recovery eort. e government
also has promised to build 20,000 homes and other buildings before winter arrives.
Fattori says the countrys disaster recovery eorts have improved. But, he adds, the
government is still not prepared to deal with a humanitarian disaster of this size
without international support.
Im Pete Musto.

Brian Padden and Youmi Kim reported on this story for VOA News. Pete Musto adapted
it for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor.
We want to hear from you. What systems does your country use to respond to
disasters? How oen does your country oer aid to others? Write to us in the
Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in is Story
typhoon n. a powerful ocean storm in the area of the northwest Pacic Ocean
humanitarian adj. having to do with eorts to make peoples lives better
starvation n. suering or death caused by not having enough to eat
region n. an area of a country or the world
sanitation n. systems used to carry away waste and keep places clean

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fund n. an amount of money that is used for a special purpose

uni
uni cation n. the bringing together of people or things provocations n. an action
or occurrence that causes someone to become angry or to begin to do something
distorted adj. to change something so that it is no longer true or accurate

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