Main opposition party demands rice, fertilizer aid to N. Korea

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on
Wednesday urged the Lee Myung-bak government to entirely change its North Korea
policy and resume rice and fertilizer assistance.
DP floor leader Lee Kang-rae said in his parliamentary speech that massive rice
shipments to the communist North are inevitable in order to address the problem
of falling rice prices in the South.
But the DP leader also called on North Korea to return to the six-party talks and
give up its nuclear program in return for food shipments from the South.
"North Korea should immediately abandon its nuclear weapons program. The Lee
Myung-bak government should also overhaul its North Korea policy and resume
fertilizer and rice assistance, as his liberal predecessors did," said the DP
leader.
"Rice shipment to the North is particularly needed to cope with falling rice
prices at home."
The Lee government has linked the resumption of full-scale food aid to North
Korea to its denuclearization, although it last week offered to give the North
limited volumes of corn and other humanitarian aid.
The sanctions-hit North on Tuesday announced that it has completed reprocessing
its spent fuel rods in a preparatory move to produce more atomic arms.
Meanwhile, the DP floor leader asked the Lee government to review a host of
controversial policy projects, including the development of four major rivers,
downsizing of the previous government's plan to move key government ministries
out of Seoul, and tax reductions for conglomerates and high income earners.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)