[USFK Forums] Seoul Obliges N. Korea on Fertilizer [Chosun]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Thursday, February 23, 2006

Seoul Obliges N.Korea on Fertilizer

The Chosun Ilbo, Updated Feb.22,2006 20:22 KST

The government has agreed to request from North Korea for 150,000 tons of fertilizer for use in spring. Unification Ministry official Koh Kyung-bin told reporters Wednesday the cost would be around US$6 million including transport.

North Korea on Feb. 1 requested the amount as the first installment of 450,000 tons to be delivered by the end of the month. Koh said Seoul acted quickly because it considered the request “along with humanitarian issues.”

Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok avoided comment on whether the swift aid would have an impact on South Korea attempts to repatriate prisoners of war and abductees still languishing in the North. “Fertilizer aid is humanitarian aid and will have an influence on the inter-Korean relationship,” Lee said on KBS radio.

Last year, Seoul turned down requests from the North for fertilizer aid for six months, telling the North to come back to the negotiating table. Pyongyang, which was then boycotting inter-Korean talks in protest against South Korea bringing in 468 North Korean defectors from Southeast Asia, resumed talks at the vice-ministerial level in May after a year-long standoff. As a result of the talks, it was given 350,000 tons of fertilizer worth about $12 million.


url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/ht...602220024.html