By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
South Korea will likely send 3,000 tons of steel products to North Korea late this month as the communist state pledged to resume work to disable its nuclear programs, the Yonhap news agency said Monday, quoting multiple unnamed sources.
The assistance was agreed upon during the six-party denuclearization talks in return for the disablement of the nuclear facilities.
The Ministry of Unification refused to detail the exact schedule. The ministry's spokesman, Kim Ho-nyoun, only said the ministry is reviewing the assistance plan.
Seoul was to ship the material between September and October but delayed since the reclusive state tried to restore its plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear complex in retaliation for U.S. tardiness in removing it from the list of states sponsoring terrorism.
Earlier, Unification Vice Minister Hong Yang-ho told foreign correspondents here that the ministry would likely make a decision on the aid by October when the production of steel products is expected to be complete.