S. Korean groups step up aid efforts for N. Korea despite tension

SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korean civic groups are gearing up to send
humanitarian aid to North Korea, despite Seoul's frosty political relations with
Pyongyang, according to the groups Sunday.
All government-to-government relations between the two Koreas have been halted
since the inauguration early last year of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak,
who took a more hardline policy on the North than his liberal predecessors.
Despite the chill in inter-Korean ties, however, private aid by South Korean
groups to the impoverished communist neighbor have continued.
Last week, a gathering of some 20 South Korean groups held talks with officials
at the North's National Reconciliation Council in China's northeastern city of
Shenyang to discuss details regarding aid shipments later this year, the South
Korean officials said.
Lee Yoon-sang, head of Nanum International, one of the South Korean groups, said
his group will focus on modernizing medical facilities in the North's capital
city of Pyongyang.
"This year, we plan to finalize the modernization of People's Hospital in
Pyongyang's Gangnam district, as well as other facilities," Lee said.
Officials at Nanum International, which specializes in medical aid to North
Korea, plan to leave for Pyongyang to discuss details with officials there, Lee
said.
Another South Korean group, Gyeongnam Unification Cooperative, said it plans to
help North Korean farmers build greenhouses to grow fruit in winter and a soybean
milk plant in Pyongyang.
"North Korean officials were pleased as they know that their farmers will be able
to harvest strawberries in winter," said Jeon Gang-seok, head of the cooperative.

Last week, South Korean government officials said the North was preparing to
test-launch a long-range ballistic missile, citing U.S. satellite images of a
North Korean train allegedly carrying a cylindrical object believed to be a
missile.
North Korea earlier declared that it was nullifying all agreements on easing
military tensions with the South, in what many analysts say was a retaliatory
move against Seoul's hardline position and an attempt to increase leverage before
U.S. President Barack Obama finalizes his policy on the communist state.
Inter-Korean relations had warmed in the late 1990s due to then South Korean
President Kim Dae-jung's so-called "sunshine policy," which sought rapprochement
with the North through provision of generous aid to Pyongyang.
President Lee, however, pledged to end Seoul's aid shipments if the North fails
to live up to its commitment to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
Despite the recent saber-rattling by the communist neighbor, President Lee has
said a "wait and see" approach is the most viable policy option.
(END)