By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
South Korea plans to send North Korea 10,000 tons of corn and other humanitarian aid, the Ministry of Unification announced Monday.
The aid, including 20 tons of milk powder and medical supplies, is a response to a North Korean request made during inter-Korean Red Cross talks on Oct. 16.
The South Korean Red Cross informed its North Korean counterpart of the plan to send the aid on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said.
It will take about 30 to 40 days to convey the aid to the North, he added.
The government will pay for the corn with four billion won ($3.4 million) from the inter-Korean cooperation fund, the spokesman said.
The Red Cross will buy the milk powder and medicine, he added.
Chun said the aid was not government-level assistance even though the ministry will partially pay for it. Government-level aid to the impoverished North has been suspended for nearly two years.
"The government has yet to set plans to offer food assistance to the North and there are no additional inter-Korean Red Cross talks planned for the foreseeable future."
But Seoul will continue efforts to resume reunions of displaced family members, he said.
The South has called for two more rounds of reunions and wants the event to be held on a regular basis later.
Last year, the government proposed to the North that it would send 50,000 tons of corn to help resolve its famine but the reclusive state remained silent, giving no response.
ksy@koreatimes.co.kr
