By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
The United Nation's World Food Program (WFP) has asked Seoul to contribute to the $60 million in food aid required to help famine-hit North Korea, the Unification Ministry confirmed Thursday.
The ministry's spokesman, Kim Ho-nyoun, told reporters the government will decide whether or not to assist in the plan after discussions with related ministries and public opinion gathering.
``The WFP faxed a letter asking for us to cooperate in giving food aid to North Korea Wednesday,'' he said. ``We will check and discuss the request with other ministries.''
The ministry, if necessary, could conduct a survey on public sentiment on the aid, he added.
Kim reiterated the government will proceed with humanitarian aid regardless of the North's nuclear issues and other political matters.
If Pyongyang directly calls for food assistance, he said, Seoul is willing to help it.
The South Korean Embassy in Italy also received the written request Tuesday from the WFP headquarters in Rome, the spokesman said.
According to the letter, about $60 million is necessary to help 6.2 million extremely needy North Koreans secure crops and daily necessities such as cooking oil and powdered milk.
The amount of money is equivalent to approximately 150,000 metric tons of corn.
The relief group plans to begin a new humanitarian aid project from Sept. 1 for the people of the reclusive state.
If South Korea complies with the request, the WFP would purchase aid with the fund and send it to the Stalinist state while operating a monitoring system for effective distribution, Kim explained.
However, the spokesman pointed out assistance through the WFP incurs administrative costs and takes longer than if sent directly from Seoul.
According to a high-ranking official of the ministry, about 15-20 percent of money tends to go toward administrative costs when WFP-led aid projects are executed.
On July 30, Jean-Pierre de Margerie, the WFP's country director for North Korea, told a news conference in Beijing that its three-week survey on food and nutrition in the country showed millions going hungry.
``Millions of vulnerable North Koreas are at risk of slipping towards precarious hunger levels,'' he said. ``Food assistance to reach the hungry is urgently needed.''