Peaceful dialogue between peoples in North-East Asia
Children's paintings / Emergency Relief

Background

Among the participants of the six-party talks, intended for the stabilization of North-East Asia and the de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, was the newly elected administration of the United States that follo-wed that of South Korea in 2008. The former U.S. administration under President George W. Bush removed the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) from the list of terrorism-sponsoring states in ex-change for DPRKs declaration of its nuclear programs. Meanwhile, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) government under President Lee Myun-Bak has departed from a conciliatory policy toward DPRK upheld by the former administration, and the Japanese government has maintained its economic sanctions against DPRK. In this manner, policies toward DPRK from the countries engaged in the six-party talks have been precarious and inconsistent with each other.

In order to establish a strong relationship between peoples whose faces are visible, JVC has con-tinued to convey the consistent message for peace by promoting dialogue through children's paintings and by providing assistance on the ground.

Summary of activities

1. Peaceful Dialogue through Children's Paintings (North Korea, South Korea, Japan)

JVC has held the "Friendship Exhibition" every year since 2001 by collecting and exchanging paintings from children of North and South Korea. This offers the opportunity for people to deepen their mutual understanding of neighboring countries that are still burdened by irregular relations at the economic-political level. We have been working to build people-to-people relationships, in which people's faces are visible, in cooperation with the South Korean NGO, Okedongmu Korea, and primary schools in DPRK.

2008 Annual Report

JVC held the "Friendship Exhibition" in Tokyo in June, featuring a large painting consisting of the pieces of work done in collaboration by children from Pyongyang, Seoul and Tokyo. Though we could not hold an exhibition in Pyongyang, five Japanese-Korean students visited there to take part in an exchange program, presenting messages and paintings from Japanese children. The exchange program also included "graduates", who had taken part in the "Friendship Exhibition", as participants to confirm that the significance of these exchange activities has been understood and they have taken root in DPRK.

2009 Annual Plan

JVC will hold workshops for a work of art while making the rounds of Pyongyang, Seoul and Tokyo in cooperation with a picture book author in ROK with whom JVC got acquainted through the "Friend-ship Exhibition". The finished work will be exhibited in Tokyo in early Autumn as an example of building mutual trust that is achievable for citizens.

2. Emergency relief on the ground

The "Relief Campaign Committee for Children, Japan (RCCJ)" was established through the collabo-ration of JVC, Ayus, and Earthtree for the purpose of providing humanitarian assistance to children living in the DPRK. RCCJ has worked in gathering infor-mation in liaison with locals. This information is based on the experience of relief assistance on the ground in order to be prepared for providing emer-gency relief in the event of a natural disaster.

2008 Annual Report

RCCJ did not conduct any humanitarian assistance since it was reported that DPRK enjoyed a bumper crop of grains in fiscal 2008 thanks to relatively fine weather. In March and August, RCCJ staff visited Kangwon province, where we provided assistance in 2007 when the province was affected by heavy rain and interviewed local people to follow up with ongo-ing restoration work and the status of the food supply. RCCJ provided an additional supply of biscuits for an orphanage in Kangwon province, which they said was still accepting an increasing number of children due to the impact of the damage from the downpour in 2007.