Due to China's need to stablize it food prices, it has stopped shipment of grain to N. Korea.

This can cause a huge distablizing effort on N. Korea, considering China provides over 80% of N. Korea's food.

What should S. Korea's role be in the current food crises in N. Korea?

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/7626

Should S. Korea put its action where its mouth is, and take responsibility in providing food to the north?

Once again, you obviously see things too simply. S. Korea has a dilemma in aiding the North. Yes, they want to aid the North Korean people, but they do not want to aid the North Korean regime that abuses the people the way it does. When you help aid the North Korean government, you are NOT helping the people.

Don't give me this: "China is helping North Koreans" BS. China is helping the North Korean government for their OWN political interests, NOT THE PEOPLE.

Find a way to help the North Korean people, without helping the government which abuses them and then I'll take you seriously.

Well, then don't complain that your northern brothers are starving. Let the chips fall where they might.

china faces the shortage of food as well. record level inflation 7% is fueled by the increases in food price. this causes public dissents. don't forget what triggers Burma's riots - increases of oil prices. Sorry NK, you are on your own.

Either helping or not helping. That would be all. Either way, NO TROOPS PLZ!

I doubt China is in shortage of Food.

south korea is developing a 50billion$USD fund to help NK development and food aid

of course this food will go to soldiers first

but where will excess food go?

of course they will go to general population

and then towards the thousands of starving people

They are many overseas donors as well, Koreans living in foreign countries are sending valuable goods & foods to NK right now. S Korea always have been biggest food donor to NK regime, China was just acting middle man.

http://www.northkoreanrefugees.com/donate.html

China also stopped providing oils to NK as well, it looks like N Koreans will have cold & hungry 2008.

north korean gdp growth will increase from 2008

Inter-Korean trade hit record high last year
Date: January 07, 2008


Inter-Korean railway
The two Koreas marked record cross-border trade in 2007 amid a growing mood for peace on the Korean Peninsula, the Unification Ministry said Monday (Jan. 7).

Bilateral trade jumped 33 percent to $1.79 billion last year from $1.35 billion a year earlier, according to the ministry.

"The rise mainly comes from a 52 percent increase in the trade of minerals and marine products," the ministry said in a press release.

It added the amount of raw materials and goods shipped into and from the Gaeseong industrial complex just north of the Inter-Korean border increased by 48 percent year-on-year.

Exchanges in non-commercial areas, however, dropped by 13 percent, according to the ministry.

Seoul hopes cross-border trade will continue to increase over the coming years as the sides are about to launch a second development plan to expand the Gaeseong industrial complex, where about two dozen South Korean companies are currently employing some 10,000 North Korean workers.

The joint industrial complex is expected to house over 2,000 South Koreans businesses and employ as many as 500,000 North Koreans when it is fully developed by a target year of 2012.

President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il have also agreed to develop the North’s western Haeju area as a special economic district in the second-ever inter-Korean summit held in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in early October.

"We attribute the record-high trade to the ever-increasing peace mood between the two Koreas and the North’s increased efforts to secure foreign money," Koh Hwa-sop, an official at the ministry’s inter-Korean economic cooperation headquarters, said.

Bilateral trade sounds good on paper. However, N. Korea needs the immediate help from S. Korea to alleviate severe food shortage. Both South and the North need to work out the accountability issues. With China having its own food problems, it is up to S. Korea to step up its efforts.

Good point, but only thing is stopping this 'immediate help' is NK's Kim Jong IL.
NK issue should be Korea's problem not China or other countries.

inter-korean trade will make a difference

whether its small or big difference it will depend on the policy

if south korea can make huge profits there

then why not create development?

also why not get mineral resources from mountainous north korea?

it will help korea's economy tremendously

dat y dey kill whallezz n whabbitzz daa feeedd daa north...

Amen!

Can buy food in australia and Us. or seasia for n ,korean

ritee...

sincee u tha.. buyy sum toyzz n shiett 2...

If the North has enough to spend on Nuclear tests and missle systems, they have enough to buy food for their own people.

It's a simple matter of resource allocation.

didd n koreaa everr showw dey gott nuclearr powerr or justt bluff../

are you one of those "did the humans really land on the moon" people?

LMAO...

ye...

anwssaa myy question.. cuz i dunn emmembaa n koreeaa showw nuclearr bombb anywur.. dey justt showw chemicall n shiett thatt showw n koreaa gott nuclearr bombb..

justt likee howw HOMIEE G bushh goo ovaa da iraq da findd nuclearr bombb butt he onlyy findd ALUMINUMM TUPEE NICCKAAA!!!

*u no watt u cann doo withh aluminummm tupee nicckaa*.../

they had photos of the reactor and there were shockwaves hitting south korea, japan, beijing and northeast china can you suggest what else would have caused that?

y dun u askk bushh dat.. heee telll u...

so wat happenn.. bushh doo jackk squatt rite../ y../ cuz tha no proof...

no1 dooo anythangg butt watchh..

y dunn bushh senndd troop ovaa da korea../ cuzz bushh dunn winnaa b dumass..