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ROK shifts course on aid to DPRK

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-26 11:19

SEOUL: The Republic of Korea (ROK) will make a small grant of humanitarian aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), ending its suspension of handouts after a series of conciliatory gestures from its rival, an official said on Monday.

Related readings:  Report: ROK to announce DPRK aid this week  US, DPRK officials meet in New York  ROK: Summit should help resolve nuke dispute  US imposes news sanctions against DPRK  DPRK diplomat stops in China on his way to US

Apart from reaching out to the ROK, the DPRK has also sent a senior nuclear envoy to the United States in the past few days for talks that could revive dormant discussions on ending Pyongyang's atomic ambitions in return for massive aid.

Seoul will send an aid package valued at about 4.1 billion won ($3.46 million) that includes 10,000 tonnes of corn and 20 tonnes of powdered milk, a Unification Ministry official told reporters.

"This aid will be solely prepared by the Red Cross," the official said.

The ROK President Lee Myung-bak, who took office in February 2008, ended years of unconditional handouts to the DPRK and launched a new programme where Seoul's largesse would be tied to nuclear disarmament.

The ROKa once sent up to 500,000 tonnes of rice and 300,000 tonnes of fertiliser a year to the DPRK but the aid was halted after Lee took power.