Jeju’s ‘Vitamin C diplomacy’ revives dormant model of North Korea engagement

North Korean children and Jeju hallabong fruits / Courtesy of NK News, Jeju Tourism Organization

For years, North Korea has rejected all dialogue with Seoul, denouncing reunification and spurning offers of aid.

But Jeju Island’s announcement this week that it sent medical equipment, citrus saplings and other supplies to North Korea suggests that another channel for engagement may still be open: South Korea’s local governments.

While North Korea has not confirmed the transfer, local governments have long served as alternate pathways to exchanges with Pyongyang, from Jeju’s “Vitamin C diplomacy” to tourism projects pursued by border provinces. Jeju’s latest success could provide a template for renewed cooperation.

However, experts caution that it is still too early to gauge Pyongyang’s openness to engage with South Korean local governments based solely on this initiative, despite the glimmer of hope it offers after years of stalled inter-Korean ties.

Jeju Governor Oh Young-hun speaks during a press conference at Jeju City Hall on Jeju Island, Feb. 25. Courtesy of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province

The Jeju deal

The Jeju government said Monday it had provided North Korea with roughly $100,000 worth of medical equipment, hallabong citrus saplings and other goods, after engaging in discussions with a North Korean organization supporting people with disabilities since early February.

The North Korean side agreed to expand cooperation with Jeju officials in the areas of pig farming and tourism, according to the Jeju government’s press release.

The announcement raised questions about the feasibility of the initiative at a time when Pyongyang remains firmly opposed to engagement with Seoul.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry told NK News on Thursday that it had authorized Jeju’s exchanges with North Korea. The shipment of goods under existing inter-Korean cooperation regulations, such as the dialysis machines, saplings and pine wilt disease-control materials, are not subject to U.N. sanctions, it said.

Maiko Takeuchi, a former member of the U.N. Panel of Experts that previously monitored North Korean sanctions implementation, told NK News that food products and most medical equipment are typically not prohibited under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Choi Eun-ju, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute, told NK News that Jeju likely sent the aid as part of an initiative to brand itself as an “Island of Peace” fostering inter-Korean relations, regardless of its distance from North Korea.

The resort island has also sought to promote itself as a champion for peace through initiatives like the annual Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, which seeks to put inter-Korean issues on the agenda and promote regional peace.

The forum has in the past expressed a desire to invite North Korean officials, and reportedly also seeks to involve them in this year’s upcoming conference.

A farmer harvests tangerines in the southern city of Seogwipo, Jeju Island, April 28, 2025. Courtesy of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province

Jeju's history of engagement

Long before Jeju’s latest outreach, the island earned a reputation as one of South Korea’s most enthusiastic champions of local-level engagement with North Korea.

In 1998, Jeju launched what became known as “tangerine diplomacy” or “Vitamin C diplomacy,” sending shipments of the island’s signature citrus fruit to the North during the height of Seoul’s pro-engagement Sunshine Policy.

Over the next decade, tens of thousands of tons of tangerines and carrots crossed the border as humanitarian aid, helping ease chronic food shortages in North Korea and providing an outlet for surplus harvests from Jeju’s farms.

Buoyed by the success, Jeju expanded its subnational diplomacy ambitions beyond food aid, exploring agricultural, livestock and cultural exchange projects with the North.

However, the momentum faded when relations between Seoul and Pyongyang deteriorated after 2008. Exchanges effectively came to an end after Seoul’s May 24 Measures in 2010, following North Korea’s sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan.

After over a decade of relative inactivity, apart from a one-off Jeju tangerine shipment by the Moon Jae-in administration in 2018, the island province now appears to be pursuing renewed exchanges with Pyongyang.

Choi said the “peace-oriented” Jeju has a strong “political incentive” to foster relations with North Korea.

“If a local government can produce visible results in a period when inter-Korean relations are frozen, it can attract attention and reinforce its identity,” she said.

But there are still questions about Jeju’s latest project and similar initiatives in the future, as there are no details on how far up the chain this project was authorized in North Korea, which officially prohibits exchanges and cooperation with the South, according to Choi.

Mount Kumgang in North Korea is seen in this image captured from Korean Central Television, Oct. 24, 2023. Yonhap

Local-level exchanges

Jeju has been far from alone in pursuing local-level engagement with North Korea.

Along the heavily fortified border, Gangwon Province emerged as one of the earliest and most ambitious advocates of local-level cooperation, promoting exchanges with North Korea’s Kangwon Province and supporting efforts to reconnect transportation links severed by the Korean War.

The province also championed tourism projects centered on North Korea’s Mount Kumgang, characterizing them as a pathway toward broader economic integration across the peninsula.

Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul and borders North Korea, also developed a portfolio of initiatives.

Over the years, it backed agricultural modernization projects and promoted cooperation on issues that transcended inter-Korean politics, including disease prevention and flood control.

Elsewhere, several major cities and provincial governments supported humanitarian, cultural and public health initiatives, often working through civic groups and aid organizations.

After U.N. sanctions were strengthened in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, local governments increasingly had to seek exemptions for humanitarian projects.

Gyeonggi Province, for example, received an exemption this year from the U.N. Security Council’s North Korean sanctions committee to supply a water purification facility to “prevent water-borne disease and supply clean, uncontaminated water” to residents of North Korea’s rural areas.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a ceremony in Pyongyang, April 26, to open a museum and memorial complex dedicated to the North Korean servicemen who took part in the liberation of Russia's Kursk Region from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in this photo provided by Russian Defence Ministry. TASS-Yonhap

Template for engagement

If Jeju’s recent provisions have indeed reached Pyongyang, it could serve as a model for cooperation initiatives by other South Korean provinces and cities.

“Local governments — not only Jeju — could continue pursuing small-scale projects focused on the livelihoods of ordinary North Koreans,” Choi said.

“Even if large-scale cooperation remains impossible, there is value in continually proposing limited initiatives and maintaining channels of contact,” she added.

Oh Gyeong-seob, a research fellow at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification, told NK News that other local governments will likely continue seeking contacts to promote inter-Korean exchanges.

He noted that North Korea has generally rejected exchanges with South Korea since Kim Jong-un announced a “hostile two states” policy in late 2023, and will likely remain negative toward dialogue with Seoul.

However, Jeju’s reported engagement with North Korea would run counter to Pyongyang’s current policies and could offer a new path.

“We need to see whether it continues accepting humanitarian and medical assistance from local governments,” he said. “If it does, that would indicate a selective approach — rejecting government-level dialogue while accepting aid from local governments.”

However, he cautioned that it is premature to interpret Pyongyang’s reported acceptance of aid from Jeju as a signal that it is widely open to local government-level exchanges.

After a years-long impasse on the Korean Peninsula, Choi said South Korea must adopt new approaches that balance military deterrence with diplomatic engagement to improve inter-Korean relations.

“South Korea needs both realism and engagement,” she said.

“It must recognize changes in North Korea’s policy and maintain its security posture, while also exploring new forms of exchange and cooperation where possible.”

Read the article at NK News.