Mercy Corps: Summit Signals a Better Future for the North Korean People

Statement from Neal Keny-Guyer, Chief Executive Officer

WASHINGTON — The global organization Mercy Corps applauds the summit between President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un and urges everyone to support successful outcomes, even if initially modest. The summit is a good first step toward a more peaceful and stable Korean peninsula and toward a brighter future for the North Korean people. I am hopeful this summit will advance peace and security across the Korean Peninsula, as well as a more hopeful future for the North Korean people.

As a global organization with a long history of humanitarian work in North Korea, we urge the Trump Administration to see the summit as an opportunity to promote people-to-people exchanges and to address the humanitarian conditions in North Korea. Last year, the United Nations indicated that 18 million people in North Korea are food insecure and 41 percent of the country is undernourished.

In the course of our work in North Korea, we have met many North Koreans who have quietly and cautiously expressed their desire for a changed relationship with the world. People-to-people engagement between Americans and North Koreans is a critical next step. It is long past time to move forward, together. Diplomacy is the only viable alternative.

Background

Mercy Corps began operating in North Korea in 1995 as one of the first organizations to provide humanitarian assistance to North Koreans amidst that country’s devastating famine. Over the years, the global organization has helped meet the urgent nutrition and health needs of vulnerable families and communities in the country, and supported efforts to build bridges through cross-cultural exchanges and dialogue.