Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. kaisnet.or.kr（宣言对援助有效性。）.pdf

The Politics of Foreign Aid in North Korea Jiyoung Kim This study aims to elucidate the nature of foreign aid in failed states through a case study of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Based on an in-depth analysis of political economy and internal politics in North Korea, I explain why foreign assistance has failed (and was doomed to fail) to support sustainable development and significantly improve humanitarian challenges in the country. In addition, focusing on the problems caused by donors, I examine humanitarian aid to North Korea since 1995 and conclude that it has been politicized, having been largely driven by non-humanitarian, political goals—more specifically, the strategic/diplomatic purposes of donors—and thus has exacerbated the problem of aid ineffectiveness. Key Words: foreign aid, failed state, humanitarian aid, North Korea his study aims to elucidate the nature of foreign aid in failed states through a case study of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, hereafter North Korea). Based on an in-depth analysis of political economy and internal politics in North Korea, I explain why foreign assistance has failed (and was doomed to fail) to support sustainable development and significantly improve humanitarian challenges in the country. In addition, focusing on the problems caused by donors, I examine humanitarian aid to North Korea since 1995 and conclude that it has been politicized, having been largely driven by non- humanitarian, political goals—more specifically, the strategic/diplomatic purposes of donors—and thus has exacerbated the problem of aid ineffectiveness. Various studies have attempted to find a causal relationship between economic development and foreign aid. Some highlight the positive role of aid in bringing *Jiyoung Kim (jiyou