If you are a long time viewer of ON THE RECORD at 10pm you know that we made our 3rd trip to North Korea in May (and actually broadcast live from there!) The purpose of our 3rd trip was to report on the current famine killing their citizens. During the last famine, more than 1 million died – and unless food gets to North Korea, the number of deaths this time will be bigger. This is not about the North Korean government — but the citizens. As you know governments are not the people.
We at ON THE RECORD at 10pm have been able to get unprecedented access to North Korea due to the generosity of Rev Graham and Samaritan’s Purse which has been doing humanitarian work in that country for decades. As you know, when we are in North Korea, we are never alone (we have North Koreans with us monitoring us every step of the way), but on each trip we get more access than the trip before. I am hoping to go again soon.
After we returned in May, I have continued to follow the horrible famine situation there. It is dismal. The United States sent a team to North Korea in June to assess the food crisis. The USA noted what we did: it is dismal.
Here is what I can report: the USA is TODAY sending food to the starving citizens of North Korea and Samaritan’s Purse is MATCHING the contribution by the USA.
At 3pm today, a 747 chartered by Samaritan’s Purse will leave North Carolina where it is currently loading food and fly to Pyongyang. Once it lands, the food will be immediately unloaded – about 5 hours – and then the plane will immediately depart.
The picture shows the loading phase going on right now in North Korea. Reverend Franklin Graham emailed me the picture because he knows how much I care about this story. Knowing people are starving to death is very difficult.
