YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) Seoul reserves 100,000 tons of corn for Pyongyang

   By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, May 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is preparing to provide North Korea with about 100,000 tons of corn in case it is affected by either drought or floods in the coming months, a government official here said Wednesday.

   The impoverished communist nation often faces such natural disasters shortly before or during summer.

   "The government is still waiting for the North to request food aid first. Unless it does so, the government will wait for an appropriate moment," the Foreign Ministry official told Yonhap News Agency. "That (moment) includes when the North faces either drought or floods."
He said, asking not to be named apparently due to the sensitivity of the issue, the South could send food to the North even without the latter's request if it suffers a natural disaster.

   South Korea has suspended the direct delivery of rice and corn aid via the World Food Program for the North since the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration was launched early this year.

   The Lee administration plans to send corn, not rice, as corn requires immediate consumption, the official said. It is relatively easy to stock rice for military use.

   "The amount to be provided directly will likely be 100,000 tons or less," he said, citing the chill in inter-Korean relations.

   South Korea rarely sends corn or other non-rice grain directly to the North.

   The Unification Ministry said Monday that it will commission research into the North's food condition amid various reports on the situation. It is also paying keen attention to the public opinion here.

   "For now, the North's food condition is judged as not serious enough to require emergency aid. But (the government) is keeping a close watch on the development of the situation," ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun told reporters.

   Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan cited difficulties in getting exact information on the reported food shortage.

   Yu said if the reclusive nation's food condition is confirmed to be very serious or a severe natural disaster occurs there, South Korea can provide food.

   The U.S. government announced a plan last week to send 500,000 tons of food to the North, which reportedly faces a famine due to soaring commodity prices and a poor harvest.

   lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)