Original Article
From Humanitarian Relief to Democracy Aid: US Foreign Assistance Towards North Korea, 1996–2016†
Taekyoon Kim,
Jong-Kyun Mok,
Changbin Woo, Bo Kyung Kim,
Corresponding Author
Taekyoon Kim
Seoul National University, South Korea
Email: oxonian07@snu.ac.krSearch for more papers by this authorJong-Kyun Mok
Woodrow Wilson International Center, United States of America
Search for more papers by this authorTaekyoon Kim,
Jong-Kyun Mok,
Changbin Woo, Bo Kyung Kim,
Corresponding Author
Taekyoon Kim
Seoul National University, South Korea
Email: oxonian07@snu.ac.krSearch for more papers by this authorJong-Kyun Mok
Woodrow Wilson International Center, United States of America
Search for more papers by this author†
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2018S1A3A2075117).
Abstract
This study sets out to discover two hitherto unexplored areas entrenched in US foreign assistance to North Korea. First, it aims to conduct the complete enumeration of US aid projects targeting North Korea for two decades, from 1996 to 2016. A full coverage of humanitarian relations between the United States and North Korea contributes to tracing its evolving trajectories in a complete form. The second issue involves a more ambitious mission, intending to dig into Washington's strategic objectives which have been veiled under the philanthropic auspice of humanitarian aid. Given that donors always react sensitively to North Korea's nuclear threats, Washington exerted strategic control over the release of humanitarian assistance along with Pyongyang's conformity with aid conditionality. Considering the donor's national interest was hidden in humanitarianism, the study reveals not only whether humanitarian assistance has deviated from its main mission of emergency relief, but also which factor led to such a deviation and advanced the democracy aid framework as a new principle of reshuffling the usage of humanitarian assistance. Analyzing its moving frontier – from humanitarian relief to democracy aid – should be at the center of identifying the securitization process of US foreign assistance to North Korea.
References
- Brown, Michael E., Sean M. Lynn-Jones, Steven E. Miller, Debating the Democratic Peace: An International Security Reader (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996).
- Burnell, Peter, “From Evaluating Democracy Assistance to Appraising Democracy Promotion,” Political Studies, 56-2 (2008), pp. 414–434.
- Burns, R. Nicholas, “ U.S. Policy toward North Korea,” in Testimony to the House International Relations Committee (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2006).
- Buzan, Barry, Ole Wæver, de Jaap Wilde, Security: A New Framework for Analysis (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1998).
- Carothers, Thomas, Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999).
- Carothers, Thomas, Prospects for U.S. Democracy Promotion under Trump (Washington D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2017).
- Central Intelligence Agency, Intelligence Report, Exploring the Implications of Alternative North Korean Endgames (Central Intelligence Agency: McLean, 1998).
- Michael Cox, Timothy J. Lynch, Nicolas Bouchet, eds., US Foreign Policy and Democracy Promotion: From Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013).
10.4324/9780203550373 Google Scholar
- DeTrani, Joseph and Arthur Dewey, “ The North Korean Human Rights Act: Issues and Implementation,” in Statement to the House Committee on International Relations, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2005).
- Fairclough, Gordon, “North Korea Ends U.N. Food Relief That Fed Millions,” The Wall Street Journal (9 January 2006), at <https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113674722414040979> (searched date: 1 August 2020).
- Finkel, Steven, Aníbal Pérez-Liñán, Mitchell A. Seligson, “The Effects of U.S. Foreign Assistance on Democracy Building, 1990-2003,” World Politics, 59-3 (2007), pp. 404–438.
- Frank, Ruediger, “The Political Economy of Sanctions against North Korea,” Asian Perspective, 30-3 (2006), pp. 5–36.
- Goedde, Patricia, “Legal Mobilization for Human Rights Protection in North Korea: Furthering Discourse or Discord?” Human Rights Quarterly, 32-3 (2010), pp. 530–574.
- Haggard, Stephan and Marcus Noland, Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid and Reform (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007).
- Haggard, Stephan and Marcus Noland, Hard Target: Sanctions, Inducements, and the Case of North Korea (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2017).
10.11126/stanford/9781503600362.001.0001 Google Scholar
- Hill, Christopher R., “ North Korean Six-Party Talks and Implementation Activities,” in Statement before the Senate Committee on Armed Services (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2008).
- Huber, Daniela, Democracy Promotion and Foreign Policy: Identity and Interests in US, EU and Non-Western Democracies (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2015).
10.1057/9781137414472 Google Scholar
- Jang, Suyoun and Jae-Jung Suh, “Development and Security in International Aid to North Korea: Commonalities and Differences among the European Union, the United States and South Korea,” The Pacific Review, 20-5 (2017), pp. 729–749.
- Kelly, James, “ Dealing with North Korea's Nuclear Programs,” in Statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2004).
- Kim, Taekyoon, “Strategizing Aid: US-China Food Aid Relations to North Korea in the 1990s,” International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 12-1 (2012), pp. 41–70.
- Knack, Stephen, “Does Foreign Aid Promote Democracy?” International Studies Quarterly, 48-1 (2004), pp. 251–266.
- Kong, Tat Yan, “China's Engagement-Oriented Strategy towards North Korea: Achievements and Limitations,” The Pacific Review, 31-1 (2018), pp. 76–95.
- Lagon, Mark, The Whys and Hows of Promoting Democracy (New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 2011).
- Manyin, Mark E., “ Food Crisis and North Korea's Aid Diplomacy: Seeking the Path of Least Resistance,” in Kyung-Ae Park, ed., New Challenges of North Korean Foreign Policy (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp. 69–88.
10.1057/9780230113978_3 Google Scholar
- Manyin, Mark E., U.S. Assistance to North Korea: Fact Sheet (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, 2006).
- Manyin, Mark E. and Mary B. Nikitin, Foreign Assistance to North Korea (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, 2013).
- McEachern, Patrick, Inside the Red Box: North Korea's Post-Totalitarian Politics (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010).
10.7312/mcea15322 Google Scholar
- Moltz, James C. and C. Kenneth Quinones, “Getting Serious about a Multilateral Approach to North Korea,” Nonproliferation Review, 11-1 (2004), pp. 136–144.
10.1080/10736700408436960 Google Scholar
- Natsios, Andrew S., The Great North Korean Famine: Famine, Politics, and Foreign Policy (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace, 2001).
- Noland, Marcus, Sherman Robinson, Tao Wang, “Famine in North Korea: Causes and Cures,” Economic Development and Cultural Changes, 49-4 (2001), pp. 741–767.
- Office of the Press Secretary, Remarks by President Bush and President Kim Dae-Jung of South Korea (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Press Secretary, 2001).
- Office of the Press Secretary, President Delivers State of the Union Address (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Press Secretary, 2002).
- O'Hanlon, Michael and Mike Mochizuki, “Toward a Grand Bargain with North Korea,” Washington Quarterly, 26-4 (2003), pp. 5–18.
- Park, Jin and Seung-Ho Jung, “Ten Years of Knowledge Partnership with North Korea,” Asian Perspective, 31-2 (2007), pp. 75–93.
- Perry, William J., Review of Untied States Policy toward North Korea: Findings and Recommendations (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 1999).
- Riddell, Roger C., Does Foreign Aid Really Work? (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).
- Rubin, James and James Foley, Excerpt from Daily Press Briefing (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 1997).
- Scott, James M. and Carie A. Steele, “Assisting Democrats or Resisting Dictators? The Nature and Impact of Democracy Support by the United States National Endowment for Democracy, 1990-99,” Democratization, 12-4 (2005), pp. 439–460.
10.1080/13510340500225947 Google Scholar
- Smith, Hazel, Hungry for Peace: International Security, Humanitarian Assistance and Social Change in North Korea (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace, 2014).
- Song, Dae-Han and Christine Hong, “Toward “the Day after”: National Endowment for Democracy and North Korean Regime Change,” Critical Asian Studies, 46-1 (2014), pp. 39–64.
- United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs. DPR Korea: Floods Situation Report No. 7. (New York: United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs, 1995).
- United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs, UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, April 1997–March 1998 (New York: United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs, 1997).
- U.S. Department of State, Action Memorandum: PL 480 Title II Emergency Food Aid for North Korea (Washington, D.C.: Department of State, 1996a).
- U.S. Department of State, Key Issues Papers for Secretary of State-Designate Madeleine Albright (Washington, D.C.: Department of State, 1996b).
- U.S. Government Printing Office, Ambassador James R. Lilley and Congressman Stephen J. Solarz North Korea Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–172, H.R. 4240, 112th Congress) (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2012).
- U.S. Government Printing Office, “ Twenty-Years of U.S. Policy on North Korea: From Agreed Framework to Strategic Patience,” in Hearing before the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives (Serial No. 113-214 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2014).
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–333, H.R. 4011, 108th Congress) (Washington, D.C.: Government Publishing Office, 2004).
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–346, H.R. 5834, 110th Congress) (Washington, D.C.: Government Publishing Office, 2008).
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–198, H.R. 2061, 115th Congress) (Washington, D.C.: Government Publishing Office, 2018).
- Chand, Vikram, K., “Democratisation from the Outside in: NGO and International Efforts to Promote Open Elections,” Third World Quarterly, 18-3 (1997), pp. 543–561.
- Woo-Cumings, Meredith, “The Political Ecology of Famine: The North Korean Catastrophe and its Lessons,” Asian Development Bank Institute Research Paper, 31 (2002), pp. 1–51.
- Yeo, Andrew, “ North Korean Human Rights Discourse and Advocacy in the United States,” in Andrew Yeo and Danielle Chubb, eds., North Korean Human Rights: Activists and Networks (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018), pp. 61–84.
10.1017/9781108589543.005 Google Scholar
