Seoul to Grant Fertilizer to Ease Looming Crop Shortage in North

South Korea is expected to provide 64 billion won ($48 million) worth of fertilizer to poverty-stricken North Korea, senior government officials said Wednesday.

"We decided to send 200,000 tons of fertilizer out of humanitarian concern," said a senior government official, speaking on customary anonymity. "We plan to study specific means of providing the fertilizer after consultation with both ruling and opposition parties and the ministries involved."

Considering that fertilizing season usually is in the spring, the government plans to complete the shipment by mid-May.

The move was also seen as a way to facilitate inter-Korean talks, which have been stalled since U.S. President George W. Bush signaled a tougher stance toward North Korea last month. Although South Korean officials have projected an appearance of calm as North Korea called off a series of meetings without giving specific reasons, officials stressed Wed-nesday that a long standstill in inter-Korean contacts would not help relations between North Korea and the United States.

"The North seems to be coordinating the timing for inter-Korean talks while paying attention to the Bush administration's policy toward its country," said one government source. "We are trying to persuade the North through unofficial channels that relations between North Korea and the United States can improve with smooth inter-Korean talks."

North Korea, with its ramshackle farm production, has been seeking fertilizer and other economic aid indirectly from the South Korean government through international organizations. The United Nations Development Program early this month said that North Korea needs 350,000 tons of fertilizer this year. A report this week also said that North Korea had suffered it poorest harvest in four years, leaving the country with "only two-thirds of the food it needs."

The cost of the coming aid, the first of its kind since the South provided 500,000 tons of fertilizer in September, will come from the South-North Korea Cooperation Fund.

by Lee Young-jong