The government of North Korea chipped in $500,000 USD, while the Red Cross in North Korea tacked on another $100,000 donation to relief efforts in Japan (specifically ethnic North Koreans living in the country) after an 9.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the north east with tsunami waves. The government’s cash was to assist pro-Pyongyang Koreans, while the Red Cross money was delivered to it’s Japanese counterpart. North Korea and Japan have no formal diplomatic ties.
That is a lot of money these days for cash-strapped North Korea, so one wonders if there is a suggestive gesture in this donation to their Chongryon contemporaries in Japan that they are still a unified people (p.s., send money). Especially given the most recent United Nations report that 6 million of North Korea’s 24.1 million population are currently in urgent need for food assistance. Ethnic North Koreans living in Japan and sending money back to their mother country is a significant portion of North Korea’s income.
Source: Yonhap / North Korean Economy Watch
