Despite widespread appeals, only about five percent of all Korean Americans have contributed to programs designed to provide food aid to North Korea. Those that have donated are apparently as much moved by faith as by identification with the homeland. Katherine Kim has reported from Korea and Cambodia and now writes for Channel A.Com.

The secretary at the Korea Times in Los Angeles laughed nervously. "Korean American aid to North Korea?" she echoed. "Oh. I don't think anyone here can talk to you, because that is a delicate matter."

"What is delicate?"

"Oh, you know. North Korea-South Korea relations are delicate," she replied with assurance.

It is certainly true that Korean Americans tread delicately on matters relating to the homeland -- and one fourth are either originally from the north or still have family there. It may seem that there is nothing "delicate" about a generation of North Korean children stunted and weakened by malnutrition -- but the question "to aid or not to aid" in Korean American minds is muddled by political residue from the homeland, and this has hindered humanitarian aid.

Fifty thousand Korean Americans have decided to aid North Korea, donating $1 million in the first half of 1997 alone. Fund-raising drives, most of them sponsored by Christian affiliated groups, have worked through international humanitarian organizations, such as the United Nations World Food Program and World Vision.

Some 70 percent of Korean Americans "attend church regularly," and some believe it to be part of their Christian duty to send aid to their brethren. These donors reject widespread reports that the aid has been misused to bolster the North Korean military -- either by funneling funds directly into military coffers or using them to buy food for the soldiers. Christian Korean Americans feel the rice will "trickle down" to the rest of the society and point to the fact that they work through reputable non-governmental organizations.

They argue further that helping North Korea will stabilize its government and so expedite efforts at reunification, creating a unified democratic -- or, even better in their terms, a Christian -- Korea. Though they are driven by goodwill, they are driven even harder by the desire to spread the word of God.

Youth groups, working through church and community organizations or student coalitions, have played a large part in donation drives. Unlike their parents, second generation Korean Americans do not hold onto the bitter memories of the Korean War, and are relatively immune to political pressure from the South as they become increasingly "American."

However the 950,000 Korean Americans -- 95 percent -- who choose not to send aid easily eclipse the others. They include those who follow the gospel according to Seoul. In South Korea, it is illegal for individuals to send money directly into North Korea, and the government discourages conglomerates (chaebols) from investing in any projects, like the Rajin Songbon Free Trade Zone, because it might ease the economic hardships of the North.

"The Korean government has a lot of pull in Korean American affairs, not only because of potential repercussions to family members who remain in South Korea, but because have business interests in South Korea," explains Bob Kim, Director of the Korean Community Center in Oakland, Calif. The government is not likely retaliate to personally but those who fall out of favor will find it hard to get things done in the land of connections and nepotism.

Daily newspapers in Seoul promote the concept of humanitarian aid, but do not go so far as to suggest people actually get out their checkbooks.

Most Korean language newspapers in the United States are sponsored by Korean news organizations or businesses and follow the same line as their big brothers in Seoul. The largest Korean American paper, the Korea Times, is run by The Hankook Ilbo, one of Korea's leading dailies, and their coverage on Korea is basically an abridged version of that paper's offerings -- which are supervised by the Korean government.

The editor of one Korean language publication in San Francisco went so far as to refuse to publish any articles on the famine, as it would "sponsor the North Korean army."

Though saddened by the news of the hardships facing Koreans in the north (one-fourth of Korean Americans were originally from or still have family in the North), few Korean Americans have paid heed to the posters asking for help seen outside local grocery stores and restaurants. Most say they do not believe the money reaches the needy. Some doubt even UN reports and photos, saying that after the photos were taken, the North Korean military returns and takes away the rice.

Particularly for the older generation, persistent vestiges of Cold War mentality mean continuing hostility to the North Korean regime. They refuse to offer aid under any circumstance, believing that the funds will extend the lifespan of the Communists who killed their families and exiled them. One older Korean American man summed up the majority response. "Let them collapse."