Fertilizer aid to North to resume

South Korea will start shipping fertilizer to North Korea later this month as a form of humanitarian aid, the South’s Red Cross chief said yesterday.
“We will send fertilizer aid to North Korea beginning March 27,” said Han Wan-sang, president of the Korean Red Cross.
Five days after the two sides agreed earlier this month to resume humanitarian projects, including reunion events for separated families, North Korea asked for 300,000 tons of fertilizer. Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said North Korea requested 400,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer for this year during the Cabinet-level meeting between the two countries. Since the inter-Korean summit between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000, the South has given the North an annual average of about 500,000 tons of rice and some 350,000 tons of fertilizer.