SOUTH KOREA: South Korea has agreed to send 400,000 tonnes of rice on credit to impoverished rival North Korea as soon as possible.
The South Korean version of a joint statement, issued after three days of bilateral economic talks, said the South would also send 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser to the North. However, the North Korean version did not specify the rice supplies, just saying that the North and South agreed to co-operate on humanitarian and reciprocal principles.
The rice will be sent to the North as soon as possible, the South's version said, although a timetable was not clear. North Korea is obliged to pay for the rice over a period of 20 years, starting 10 years after receiving the staple food and at an interest rate of 1 per cent, it said.
South Korea has a huge rice surplus, while many North Koreans face malnutrition and even starvation. An initial offer from the South of rice on credit was withdrawn in late June after a naval clash with the North in which five South Korean sailors were killed.
South Korea last month forecast that its rice stockpiles would climb to 1.9 million tonnes by the end of October, up from 1.34 million tonnes a year earlier. These have suppressed prices in South Korea, while North Korea relies on international food aid to augment its dilapidated agricultural system.South Korea aims to lower its rice harvest to about 5.18 million tonnes this year, from an annual average of 5.33 million.-(Reuters)