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

SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- A group of South Korean farmers will send 175 tons of rice to North Korea on Wednesday, continuing non-governmental humanitarian aid amid damaged inter-Korean relations.

The Korea Peasants League said they had arranged to have a ship collect rice from
across the country at ports along the west coast. The boat left the southern
island of Jeju on Monday and will depart from the port of Incheon later Wednesday
afternoon. It will likely arrive at the North Korean port of Nampo on Thursday,
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.
The Peasants League also called for legislation that would implement the regular
delivery of rice aid to North Korea, saying it will help rice growers at home
struggling with an influx of cheaper imports. Experts have echoed that opinion,
saying that rice aid to the North pushes up prices in South Korea.
The legislation "is a wise idea for cross-border cooperation and would enable
both our brethren in the North and farmers in the South to survive," the
organization said in a statement.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)