S. Korean farmers to send rice to N. Korea amid frozen relations

(ATTN: MODIFIES lead, 2nd para to correct shipment detail, changes at bottom)
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean farmers' organization said Wednesday it
will send 174 tons of rice to North Korea this week, continuing non-governmental
humanitarian aid amid damaged inter-Korean relations.

The Korea Peasants League said they have arranged to have a ship collect rice
from across the country at ports along the coast. The boat left the southern
island of Jeju on Monday and will depart from the port of Incheon, west of Seoul,
on Friday. It will likely arrive at the North Korean port of Nampo on the same
day if weather conditions at sea are normal, they said.
"We hope this shipment will be a small seed to normalize the frozen inter-Korean
relations," the group's Jeju branch said in a statement.
Non-governmental aid has continued amid the political stalemate. The South Korean
government suspended its customary food and fertilizer aid to the impoverished
state last year as North Korea cut off dialogue and intensified an anti-Seoul
media tirade.
A Seoul-based Buddhist organization, the Jungto Society, shipped food aid worth
380 million won (US$293,436) intended for mothers and children in North Korea
last week.
This week's shipment by the Peasants League includes some 60 tons of rice donated
by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a labor umbrella group. The union
group and the farmers are calling for legislation that would implement the
regular delivery of rice aid to North Korea.
"The government should give up its Cold War North Korea policy and promulgate a
policy of co-existence," they said in a statement.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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