SOUTH KOREA: South Korea shelved plans yesterday to give Pyongyang rice and help launch a mobile phone service, both part of the fallout from a naval battle that also saw long-awaited US-North Korea talks slip back into limbo.
President Kim Dae-jung's government has said it remains committed to its "Sunshine Policy" of engaging North Korea, but Mr Kim used uncharacteristically stern words towards Pyongyang about the weekend clash and an aide said public opinion was hardening. On Saturday, four South Korean sailors died and 19 were wounded in the clash between naval ships of South and North Korea in waters west of Seoul. A number of North Koreans are also thought to have died.
"There is a need for a comprehensive review of aid policy to North Korea because national sentiment has been hurt by the North's Yellow Sea provocation," a senior government official said.
South Korea's Agriculture Ministry said it was unlikely to ship 300,000 tonnes of surplus rice to North Korea and the Information and Communication Ministry put off planned talks with North Korea on starting a mobile phone service in Pyongyang.
However, South Korea also said yesterday it wanted the United States and North Korea to resume talks despite the new tensions caused by last weekend's inter-Korean naval clash in the Yellow Sea. - (Reuters)