KOREAN PENINSULA: South Korea sends rice aid to North Korea by crossing through the Demilitarized Zone

South Korea began sending 50,000 tonnes of rice aid to North Korea on Friday (July 20) through the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which bisects the two Koreas. About 60 trucks loaded with rice passed through the Military Demarkation Line (MDL) inside the DMZ, after being checked by South Korean customs officials. North and South Korea are still at war technically since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in truce without any proper peace treaty. That is why truck driver Han Yong-seok said he was nervous to cross over to the North. "I am at a loss for words because I am really nervous. I hope reunification should come as quickly as possible with these rice aid," Han said. Seoul has said it would be prepared to provide the North with 400,000 tonnes of rice this year if Pyongyang made progress in a deal to scrap its nuclear arms programme in exchange for energy aid, security assurances, and better diplomatic standing. South Korea refused to give the aid last year after the North defied international warnings and test-fired a barrage of missiles in July, deepening tensions with its first nuclear test in October. The shipment of 3,000 tonnes of rice left the port of Gunsan in late June for the first time since a shipment was sent to the North in December 2005. North Korea has long struggled with chronic food shortages because of mismanaged farm policy and bad weather. It has relied on handouts from the South in the past years to feed its people. Famine in the late 1990s killed as many as 10 percent of its 22 million population, relief agencies have said. Aid agencies have said the North's farm production falls short of what is needed by as much as one million tonnes a year and possibly more. South Korea has provided up to 500,000 tonnes a year in the past.

ITN Source | July 20, 2007

Tags:. .inside. .deal. .bad. .words. .without