Humanitarian Work Cuts Short After Hong Kong Bank Severs Ties With North Korea Aid Group

KorAid’s effort to deliver prosthetics and rehabilitation services to thousands of North Koreans was suddenly imperiled when a major bank in Hong Kong closed both the NGO’s account and that of its director without explanation in spring 2023. The account closure came at a moment when the charity was already battling dwindling donor interest and mounting logistical hurdles as Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile activity tightened the political climate around aid delivery.

For years KorAid had been helping people with disabilities regain mobility and a measure of independence—assistance that also eased the burden on families and local caregivers. But the group’s work was increasingly eclipsed by geopolitics. The steady pace of weapons testing from the North not only drew international condemnation, it also made donors skittish, complicated procurement and shipping, and turned routine fundraising into a slog. Many prospective contributors raised questions about sanctions and compliance, slowing the flow of money and supplies.

The bank action—by ICBC’s Hong Kong branch—took KorAid’s leadership by surprise. Observers familiar with financial practices in the city said the move was less about direct legal pressure related to sanctions and more about a broader chill on independent organizations that has spread from the mainland. Since Beijing tightened controls on civic groups and imposed a new National Security Law on Hong Kong in 2020, Chinese lenders and other large institutions have increasingly distanced themselves from any nongovernmental actors to avoid regulatory and reputational risk.

That withdrawal of services from a humanitarian actor whose beneficiaries are inside a state allied with Beijing underscores a paradox: political repression in one place can cut off life-saving aid in another. Banking and legal experts say the episode highlights how the shrinking space for civil society in greater China can have knock-on effects that reach far beyond the territory, effectively severing neutral humanitarian channels and leaving vulnerable people without help.

The account closure and its explanation are recounted in a forthcoming memoir by longtime aid worker Kathi Zellweger, Miss Kathi: Saving Lives in North Korea, due Sept. 1 from Post Hill Press. Zellweger, a Swiss national who has made dozens of visits to the North and has directed humanitarian operations there for international agencies and her own NGO, describes the scramble to keep programs running as diplomatic and financial pressures mounted. Coauthor Mike Chinoy, a veteran Asia correspondent now affiliated with the University of California, San Diego, provides reporting context from his years covering the region.

Aid analysts say the episode should prompt banks, regulators and donors to clarify how humanitarian activity can continue even amid tightened national security concerns. They suggest clearer humanitarian carve-outs and better guidance to financial institutions could prevent similar disruptions—so that aid reaches people who need it, regardless of their government’s politics.