제주평화연구원

 

Mandarin Orange Aid Campaign for North Koreans

The idea of collecting mandarin oranges for North Koreans was brought up by religious groups on Jeju Island in 1998 when Jeju farmers were struggling to address the problem of the overproduction of mandarin oranges that year. The program was initiated not only to help the hunger-stricken North Korean people, but also to help stabilize the price of mandarin oranges.

The Korean Red Cross got involved in 1999 to promote the “Jeju Residents’ Campaign to Send Mandarin Oranges to North Korea” in celebration of the new millennium, which resulted in the delivery of 100 tons of the fruit to the North. The campaign has since then gained steam, leading to the establishment in November 2011 of the “Jeju Residents’ Campaign Headquarters for Helping North Koreans,” which was later renamed as the “Jeju Center for Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation.”

As the campaign became more structured, an independent channel for dialogue was set up for direct talks in Beijing with the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee of North Korea without the assistance of the Korean Red Cross or the “Korean Sharing Movement,” a Seoul-based aid group. The inter-Korean dialogue was later maintained by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation (KCRC). On Nov. 28, 2001, officials of the “Jeju Center for Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation” met with their counterparts from the North’s KCRC in Beijing to sign an “Agreement for the Jeju Residents’ Visit to North Korea and the Verification of the Provision and Distribution of Jeju-Grown Agricultural Products.” In the wake of the agreement, the donation campaign started to collect donations in kind and cash to send mandarin oranges and carrots grown on Jeju to North Korea. At the same time, detailed arrangements were made to confirm the actual distribution of the agricultural products to the North Korean people. The Jeju provincial government enacted an ordinance for the promotion of exchange and cooperation between South and North Korea in May 2007. The new ordinance paved the way for the creation of the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund which had raised a total of 2.1 billion won up to November 2015. The mandarin orange aid campaign for North Koreans was held every year from November to the next February. The annual campaign, taking 122 days, had a lengthy process in the following order: (1) report of the planned contact with North Korean counterparts to the South Korean government (2) consultation with the North’s KCRC (3) allotment of the budget for the cost of logistics of the mandarin orange aid (4) consultation on mandarin orange aid plans with the North Korean authorities (5) collection of mandarin orange donations, followed by sorting, packaging and storing them (6) ground transportation for mandarin oranges in Jeju loading them on a cargo vessel at Jeju Port quarantine inspections and shipment to the North and (7) confirmation of delivery and distribution to the North Korean people.

The mandarin orange aid campaign for North Koreans had been successfully carried out up to 2010 when economic sanctions, called “May 24 Measures,” were imposed on the North. The mandarin orange aid was cited as one of the most successful examples of a North Korea aid program on the local government level. Some international news media even deemed it as “Vitamin C Diplomacy” that has contributed to easing tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang.

In addition to mandarin oranges, carrots and other agricultural products grown on Jeju were delivered to the North. The successful campaign was followed by the donations of winter clothing for North Korean children in 2002 and 2004. Other aid programs were also initiated to provide grass seed, medical supplies and other humanitarian assistances to the North. The mandarin orange aid campaign for North Koreans created momentum for Jeju and Pyongyang to build mutual trust. It not only laid the foundation for diverse exchange projects, but also contributed to diversifying distribution channels for Jeju’s mandarin oranges, carrots and other agricultural products, and thereby stabilizing their prices and increasing the income of Jeju farmers. The mandarin orange aid program for North Koreans, undertaken for a humanitarian cause, has strengthened the trust between Jeju and Pyongyang to the extent that a large delegation of Jeju residents visited the North in May 2002 for the first time since national division. The visit, upon the invitation of the North, was made four times from May 2002 to November 2007 resulting in a total of 835 Jeju citizens crossing the border into the North.