Red Cross chief says South Korea open to more aid to North

SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- The Red Cross chief here hinted Monday that South Korea
may give more in addition to the 10,000 tons of corn aid it has offered to North
Korea if inter-Korean relations make progress.
The remarks by Yoo Chong-ha came even as North Korea remained silent over the
small-scale offer made by the South on Oct. 26. The absence of a reply has raised
suspicions here that Pyongyang may have been displeased by the limited amount.
"I don't think so," Yoo said in an interview with CBS radio.
"In the previous working-level talks, we made known our desire to promote various
exchanges. And we are not like, give the 10,000t and that's it," he said. "We
told them we'll first prepare 10,000t."
Yoo was referring to a discussion during an inter-Korean Red Cross meeting on
Oct. 16 in which North Korea made a rare official request for humanitarian aid
from Seoul.
The corn aid is only a fraction of the amount South Korea's previous liberal
governments have regularly given over the past decade -- an average 400,000t of
rice and 300,000t of corn annually. Such state-level assistance came to a halt
when conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in Seoul last year,
conditioning inter-Korean exchanges on progress in North Korea's
denuclearization. North Korea conducted its second nuclear test in May.
Yoo said South Korea suggested its intent to provide more aid in the Oct. 16
talks. Additional aid, however, will require "progress in inter-Korean
relations," he said in the interview.
The 10,000t of corn, along with 20t of powdered milk and some medicine, when
delivered, will be the first state-level aid to the North in nearly two years.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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