View source for Red Cross Society of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

{{Short description|Humanitarian organization in North Korea}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                = Red Cross Society of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
| image               = Emblem of DPRK Red Cross.svg
| caption             = Emblem of the Red Cross Society of the DPRK
| abbreviation        = DPRK RCS
| formation           = 18 October 1946
| type                = [[NGO]]
| purpose             = [[Humanitarian aid|Humanitarian]]
| headquarters        = [[Pyongyang]], [[North Korea]]
| location            = Ryonhwa 1 dong, [[Central District (Pyongyang)|Central District]], [[Pyongyang]]<ref name="ifrc_Kore"/>
| region_served       = {{DPRK}}
| sec_gen             = [[Ri Ho-rim]]
| leader_title        = President
| leader_name         = [[Kang Su-rin]]
| leader_title2       = Vice chairman executive
| leader_name2        = [[Paek Yong-ho]]
| leader_title3       = Vice chairman
| leader_name3        = [[Kim Hyong-hun]]
| leader_title4       = Vice chairman
| leader_name4        = [[Ri Chung-bok]]
| affiliations        = [[International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies]]
| website             = {{URL|http://www.friend.com.kp/dprkrcs/}}
| num_volunteers      = 3,300
}}
{{Infobox Korean name
| title = Red Cross Society of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
| hangul    = {{linktext|조선|민주주의|인민|공화국| 적십자회}}
| hanja     = {{linktext|朝鮮|民主主義|人民|共和國| 赤十字會}}
| rr        = Joseon Minjujuui Inmin Gonghwagung Jeoksipjahoe
| mr        = Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk Chŏksipcha Hoe
| context   = north
}}
The '''Red Cross Society of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea''' ('''DPRK RCS''';<ref name=MAAKP002>{{Cite web|title=Democratic People's Republic of Korea: Annual Report 2012 |page=1|url=https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/SP354KPLTPF_12arn.pdf|date=30 April 2013|id=MAAKP002|publisher=International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies}}</ref> {{Korean|hangul=조선민주주의인민공화국 적십자회|mr=Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk Chŏksipcha|context=north}}<ref name="geon_geon">{{Cite web| title = geonames – International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies| work = Geonames| access-date = 10 January 2015| url = http://www.geonames.de/redcross.html}}</ref>) is the national [[Red Cross Society]] of [[North Korea]]. It was founded as the '''Red Cross Society of North Korea''' on 18 October 1946 by the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-backed [[Provisional People's Committee of North Korea|occupational government]].{{sfn|Report of the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies|2014|p=48}}

It was admitted into the [[International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies]] (IFRC) on 11 May 1956. This admittance had a great symbolic importance, as the North Korean regime remained outside most international organizations for decades.

The DPRK RCS is active in flood relief work as [[North Korea flooding|flooding]] is a prominent humanitarian problem in North Korea. Issues related to water supply, damage to the infrastructure, [[landslide]]s, a need for food aid, homelessness and waterborne diseases are also other humanitarian problems faced by the DPRK RCS.

The society has participated in family reunions of Korean families separated by the [[Korean War]] and in repatriation of [[Koreans in Japan|Japanese Korean]]s. Other humanitarian and relief activities abroad have targeted China, India, Iran, the former Soviet Union, Argentina, Jamaica, Egypt, Benin, and Somalia.

==History==
The society was founded as the "Red Cross Society of North Korea" on 18 October 1946. It was renamed "Red Cross Society of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" in December 1948,{{sfn|Report of the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies|2014|p=48}} by Decision No. 101 of the [[Cabinet of North Korea]].<ref name="Kim2014">{{cite magazine|author=Kim Kum-jin|date=May 2014|title=Humanitarian Activities: Red Cross Society of the DPRK|magazine=Democratic People's Republic of Korea|issue=701|pages=38–39|issn=1727-9208}}</ref> By 1950 it had become a nation-wide organization.<ref name="70th"/> It was admitted into the [[International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies]] (IFRC) on 11 May 1956.<ref name="vok">{{Cite web|title=Noble mission of red cross organization|publisher=[[Voice of Korea]]|access-date=18 September 2015|url=http://www.vok.rep.kp/CBC/english.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418194940/http://www.vok.rep.kp/CBC/english.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 April 2011}}</ref> This admittance had a great symbolic importance for North Korea, as the regime had been isolated from almost all of international organizations such as the [[United Nations]],<ref name="Morris-Suzuki2007">{{cite book|author=Tessa Morris-Suzuki|title=Exodus to North Korea: Shadows from Japan's Cold War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQwfAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA102|date=2007|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-7425-7938-5|page=102}}</ref> which it only joined in 1991.<ref name="Fomerand2017">{{cite book|last=Fomerand|first=Jacques|title=Historical Dictionary of the United Nations|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LwRBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA336|edition=2nd|year=2017|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|location=Lanham|isbn=978-1-5381-0971-7|page=336|chapter=Korea (Democratic People's Republic of)}}</ref> One of the original tasks for the society was prevention of once prevalent infectious diseases such as [[tuberculosis]].<ref name="70th"/>

The DPRK RCS held a prominent role in aftermath of the Korean War. The society provided the people with food, clothing, bedding and medical services at provincial hospitals, and first aid posts.<ref name="70th"/>

In 1971 Koreans from both sides officially met and shook hands for the first time, during the delivery of a letter from the North Korean Red Cross Society accepting a proposal from the South Korean National Red Cross for joint investigation of the problems of families separated by the division of the peninsula. Preliminary meetings between delegations of both entities were held multiple times in late in the year.<ref name="Annual Register 1971">{{cite book |editor1-first=Ivison |editor1-last=Macadam |editor1-link=Ivison Macadam |editor2-first=Muriel |editor2-last=Grindrod |editor3-first=Ann |editor3-last=Boas |author= [[William E. Skillend]] (Chapter on Korea)|date=1972 |title=[[The Annual Register|The Annual Register of World Events]] 1971 |series=213 |publisher= [[Longman]]s, Green and Co Ltd |location=Great Britain |page=309 |isbn=0-582-11971-5 }}</ref> The two societies met about 30 times in the ensuing year, reaching a preliminary agreement.<ref name="Annual Register 1972">{{cite book |editor1-first=Ivison |editor1-last=Macadam |editor1-link=Ivison Macadam |editor2-first=Muriel |editor2-last=Grindrod |editor3-first=Ann |editor3-last=Boas |author=[[William E. Skillend]] (Chapter on Korea) |date=1973 |title=[[The Annual Register|The Annual Register of World Events]] 1972 |series=214 |publisher= [[Longman]]s, Green and Co Ltd |location=Great Britain |pages=273, 317 }}</ref> Then in 1973 progress stalled.<ref name="Annual Register 1973">{{cite book |editor1-first=H. V. |editor1-last=Hodson |editor1-link=Harry Hodson |editor2-first=Verena |editor2-last=Hoffman |author=[[William E. Skillend]] (Chapter on Korea) |date=1974 |title=[[The Annual Register|The Annual Register of World Events]] 1973 |series=215 |publisher= [[Longman]]s, Green and Co Ltd |location=Great Britain |page= 327 |isbn=0-582-50115-6 }}</ref>

The [[Law on the Red Cross Society of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea]] further defines its role,<ref name="Kim2014"/> and was adopted by Decree 2113 of the [[Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly]] on 10 January 2007.{{sfn|Report of the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies|2014|p=41}}

The DPRK RCS was involved in repatriating Japanese Koreans in 1959 and in returning "[[unconverted long-term prisoners]]", North Korean loyalist prisoners in South Korea, in 1993 and 2000. The DPRK RCS has also worked on family reunions for families separated by the [[Korean War]].<ref name="vok"/>

In 2016 the society celebrated its 70th anniversary, and foreign partners from the [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement]] visited [[Sinyang County]] to learn about programs to improve food production and increase local awareness on natural disasters.<ref name="70th">{{cite web|url=http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/asia-pacific/korea-democratic-peoples-republic-of/international-partners-pay-tribute-to-dprk-red-cross-on-its-70th-anniversary-73649/|title=International partners pay tribute to DPRK Red Cross on its 70th anniversary|publisher=International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies|date= 31 October 2016|access-date=17 January 2018|last=Fuller|first=Patrick}}</ref>

==Activities==
Administratively DPRK RCS, has central, provincial, city and county level committees.{{sfn|Report of the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies|2014|p=49}} Its secretary general is [[Ri Ho-rim]], president [[Kang Su-rin]], vice chairman executive [[Paek Yong-ho]], and vice chairmen [[Kim Hyong-hun]] and [[Ri Chung-bok]].<ref name="ifrc_Kore"/> The organization is based in the [[Central District (Pyongyang)|Central District]] of [[Pyongyang]].<ref name="ifrc_Kore">{{Cite web| title = Korea, Democratic People's Republic| publisher = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies| access-date = 10 January 2015| url = http://www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/where-we-work/asia-pacific/red-cross-society-of-the-democratic-peoples-republic-of-korea/}}</ref>

The DPRK RCS is often active in the flood relief work, as [[flooding]] in North Korea remains a major humanitarian concern. Other major humanitarian problems related to the flooding, and faced by the IFRC, are damage to the water supply in both urban and rural communities, damage to the infrastructure, [[landslides]], a need for the food aid, homelessness and [[waterborne diseases]].<ref name="ifrc_Kore"/><ref name="70th"/> {{As of|2016}}, [[deforestation]] remains a major contributing cause for natural disasters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-04/floods-affect-600000-in-north-korea-red-cross/7899584|title=Red Cross calls for urgent North Korea aid as floods affect 600,000|date=3 October 2016|publisher=ABC Australia|access-date=4 October 2016}}</ref> The DPRK RCS also sent aid to South Korea after record flooding there in August and early September 1984. The society's other humanitarian and relief activities abroad have targeted China, Japan, India, Iran, the former Soviet Union, Argentina, Jamaica, Egypt, Benin, and Somalia.<ref name="vok"/>

{{As of|2013|7}}, there were 3,300 Red Cross volunteers in the North Korea.<ref name="ifrc_Kore"/>

In 2013, its programs reached 8.89 million North Koreans.<ref name=MAAKP002/> Healthcare programs focusing on women and children have been implemented in 56 cities.<ref name=MAAKP002/>

Additionally, it operates the Pyongyang Red Cross Hospital<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878875015002557 | doi=10.1016/j.wneu.2015.03.020 | title=History of Neurosurgery in Democratic People's Republic of Korea | year=2015 | last1=Park | first1=Kee B. | last2=Roh | first2=Young Han | last3=Lee-Park | first3=Owen | last4=Park | first4=Sophie | journal=World Neurosurgery | volume=84 | issue=3 | pages=855–859 | pmid=25827044 | doi-access=free }}</ref> which is considered amongst the best in the DPRK.

==See also==
{{Portal|North Korea|Politics}}

*[[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement]]
*[[June 15th North–South Joint Declaration]]
*[[List of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies]]
*[[Republic of Korea National Red Cross]]
*[[Seoul–Pyongyang hotline]]

== References and sources ==
{{reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
*{{Cite web |date=13 September 2014 |title=Report of the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies |location=Pyongyag |publisher=DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies |url=http://www.naenara.com.kp:80/en/download.php?e#.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113133356/http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/download.php?e#.pdf |archive-date=13 November 2014 |url-status=dead |ref={{SfnRef|Report of the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies|2014}} |df=dmy-all }}

== External links ==
*[http://www.friend.com.kp/index.php/krcf Korea Red Cross Foundation] – a subordinate body of DPRK RCS
*{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926073313/http://naenara.com.kp/en/news/news_view.php?0+97031|date=26 September 2016|title=Interview with General Secretary Ri Ho-rim}}, Naenara
{{Authority control}}
{{Red Cross Red Crescent Movement}}

[[Category:Medical and health organizations based in North Korea]]
[[Category:Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies|Korea, North]]
[[Category:1946 establishments in North Korea]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1946]]