The first ship carrying European Union food aid arrived in famine-hit North Korea today, the official North Korean news agency KCNA reported.
The EU is to provide more than 70,000 tonnes of food to the isolated Stalinist state's people as part of its efforts to peacefully resolve the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, EU officials said in February when they announced the shipments would resume.
The ship docked today at the North Korean port at Nampho on the west coast of the peninsula, KCNA reported.
"The food aid from the EU will encourage the Korean people in their efforts to recover from the aftermath of the natural disasters," KCNA said.
Tassos Giannitsis, an alternate foreign minister for Greece which is currently assuming the EU presidency, made the pledge during talks with new South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun, presidential spokeswoman Song Kyoung-Hee said on February 26th.
"We oppose North Korea's nuclear development but hope the issue will be resolved through dialogue. The humanitarian aid for North Korea must continue," Mr Giannitsis was quoted as telling Roh after he was inaugurated in late February.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who also attended Roh's inauguration in Seoul, announced Washington would resume aid to North Korea and dispatch a total of 100,000 tonnes of food assistance there this year.
But Japan, a key food donor, has been reluctant to resume the food assistance to the North, citing the public anger over the Stalinist state's abduction of Japanese citizens and military threats.
AFP