Seoul to Send More Fertilizer to North Korea
2003-10-15
South Korea has decided to provide 100,000 tons of free fertilizer aid worth 30.6 billion won ($26.6 million) to impoverished North Korea, officials in Seoul said on Tuesday (Oct. 14).
The Unification Ministry said the first fertilizer shipment will be made late this month, and that it will take a month to complete the delivery.
South Korea, a major aid provider to the impoverished North, is also in the process of shipping 400,000 tons of rice to the North.
Last month, the hunger-stricken North requested an additional 100,000 tons of fertilizer from South Korea this fall through bilateral Red Cross channels at the truce village of Panmunjeom.
South Korea delayed the provision of fertilizer due to negative public opinion after the destructive typhoon Maemi ripped through the southern regions of the country. The typhoon caused 4.22-trillion-won worth of property damage and left 131 dead or missing.
The South has so far given its northern neighbor 1 million tons of free fertilizer, including 200,000 tons this year.
The U.N. World Food Program has forecast that North Korea will suffer a food shortage of 125,000 tons from early October to early next March.
Source : www.korea.net
