What's wrong with this picture?

Things seem a little backwards these days. It's a little bit of a role reversal, not unlike the plot of a popular television drama about two women.

Unification minister Lee Jong-seok (right) holds the key to a gate with a sign saying, "No rice and fertilizer aid." The last time North and South Korea had formal talks, it was Lee who informed his Northern counterparts that its decision to launch missiles meant the South would halt assistance. But neither Lee nor anyone else in the government has yet to say what, if anything, is going to be done in the way of official disaster relief in response to reports that damage from recent flooding was particularly severe in the North.

Grand National Party (GNP) member and member of the National Assembly Chung Hyung-keun (left) worked at the country's main intelligence agency during the years of South Korean dictatorship. He has frequently been accused of having tortured detainees there, and just recently refused to respond to an inquiry by the agency when it sought his cooperation in performing a self-investigation of its past. Chung is one of many in the conservative GNP who have called for a hard-line approach to North Korea and who accuse Lee and the government of failing to stand up to Pyongyang. On Thursday, however, he was one of those calling for aid to be sent to help storm victims.

(Hankyoreh Geurimpan, 4 August 2006)