Rice aid to NK delayed due to bad weather

By Kim Se-jeong

South Korea will send 5,000 tons of rice to North Korea, the first humanitarian food aid from the government to the communist country since the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak administration.

According to the Korean National Red Cross (KNRC) in Seoul, the freighter was supposed to leave the southern Gunsan port Monday for Dandong, a Chinese city bordering North Korea. But the departure was put off due to strong wind, KNRC officials said.

The ship is expected to leave today if weather conditions improve.

The donation is intended to help North Korean flood victims. Separately, two other ship carrying 3 million instant cup noodles left Incheon Port Monday.

The delivery is the KNRC’s answer to the North’s request to send urgent aid made in September. The shipment comes at the beginning of a week of inter-Korean exchanges.

Today, Red Cross officials from South and North Korea will meet in Gaeseong for talks. Topping the agenda is whether to put the reunions of Korean families displaced by the Korean War (1950-1953) on regular footing, something previous governments in Seoul had unsuccessfully tried.

On Saturday, a total of 200 families will meet at the Mt. Geumgang Resort, the second time under the incumbent administration. A preparation team left Monday for resort.

The cash-hungry regime initially demanded the resumption of all Mt. Geumgang tours in exchange for the family reunions, but backed off, requesting a separate meeting to discuss this.