韩国人道主义组织向朝鲜放飞物资气球

Aid Groups Send North Korea a Message, Aid in a Bottle

Some humanitarian¹ groups in South Korea are using unusual ways to send food aid and information to people in North Korea.

Their efforts come as officials from the North and the South prepare for talks between the leaders of the two countries. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is expected to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Panmunjom on April 27.

Recently, activists³ gathered on Ganghwa island in the Yellow Sea, close to the border dividing North and South Korea. The group included volunteers, humanitarian activists and North Korean defectors. They launched packages containing aid into the sea.

The packages look like plastic bottles. They are filled with rice, medicine and American money. The group is also sending information on digital memory devices, which contain movies as well as foreign news reports, which are banned in North Korea.

The activists say the ocean current will carry the sealed containers to cities and towns on North Korea’s west coast.

Park Jung-oh told VOA, “If we set the date and time right, it will get there 100 percent.” Park is with the Kuen Saem Education Center in Seoul. The center helps North Korean defectors deal with life after they move to South Korea.

Bottles versus⁴ balloons

Park said using the ocean current is a safer and better way to send things to the North than using balloons. Humanitarian groups have used balloons in the past with mixed results.

Balloons were used to send packages containing South Korean movies, television shows and news -- materials that are banned in North Korea.

In 2014, North and South Korean forces exchanged gunfire when an activist² group launched balloons full of leaflets toward the North Korean border. The incident almost interfered⁵ with plans at the time to hold a reunion of families that were separated by the Korean War.

As diplomatic efforts increase before the meeting of the North and South Korean leaders, there has been less attention to the group’s activities.

This week, the group also sent more than 500 kilograms of rice in addition to digital information. They have done so repeatedly over the past three years.

The United Nations reports that more than 40 percent of North Korea’s population does not get enough to eat. Conditions in the North have improved since the 1990s, when the communist agriculture system failed. Widespread starvation followed.

But food shortages remain common. Some observers are concerned about the international campaign of pressure and economic sanctions against North Korea. The sanctions are aimed at persuading the North to give up its nuclear weapons program. But observers are worried such measures will increase hunger and poverty in the country.

Defectors bring attention to conditions in the North

Many aid activists are defectors from North Korea. They escaped poverty and repression⁶, and now want to bring international attention to human rights abuses in the North.

Jung Kwang-il is a defector who recently met with United States President Donald Trump⁷ during a visit to Washington. He included a copy of Trump’s speech to the United Nations as part of the information package the group sent to North Korea. In the speech, the president threatens to destroy the North if it continues to threaten the world with its nuclear weapons program.

Jung said, “So the message that we are sending to them is that the U.S. president knows that you are living in these harsh conditions.”

The North Korean defectors involved in the effort have raised money and donated their time.

Kim Yong-hwa is with the North Korean Refugees Human Rights Association of Korea in Seoul. He said it was a difficult thing to do, but is pleased he sent the materials.

Some of the humanitarian support comes from Christian⁸ religious groups. Religious teaching in North Korea is highly restricted.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

defector –n. a person who leaves a group or country and go to another one that is a competitor or enemy

digital – adj. of or related to computer technology

leaflets – n. small pieces of paper that hold messages usually urging people to take some kind of action

sanction – n. measures taken by countries to force other nations to obey international law, usually by limiting trade or finance

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

5 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。