VDM Verlag Foreign Aid in North Korea: Can We Meet?: Development strategies for the Democratic People¿s Republic of Korea proposed by its government and the international donor community

In the mid-1990s the outside world responded to a severe famine hitting North Korea and started assisting several millions of people. In September 2005 the North Korean government announced that the international humanitarian assistance was no longer desired. This resulted in a large gap between the type of assistance North Korea wanted to receive, and the assistance that the international donor community was prepared to provide to the country. The empirical evidence of this study, collected during a field trip of three weeks to North Korea in 2006, identifies the development strategies of the respective parties. The study evaluates the realism of the two parties¿ development strategies, resulting in an analysis of when and where there is room for North Korea and the international donor community to agree on foreign assistance to the country. The precarious conditions of the North Korean people call for continued efforts to solve the current situation and reduce the gap between the North Korean government and foreign donors. This underlines the need for academics, policy makers and aid workers to deepen our understanding of when and where we can meet. About the Author Pia Lindström, M.Sc., B.Sc.: Studied International Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics and Political Science at Stockholm University. Currently working at the UNDP in Bhutan. Mikael Staaf, M.Sc.: Studied International Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics. Currently working at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.