S. Korea Sends First Boatload of Rice North
A South Korean freighter with 2,000 tons of rice left for North Korea on Sunday to begin shipments of emergency food aid to the Communist state, officials said.
It is the first consignment of 150,000 tons of rice Seoul has promised to deliver to the North free of charge.
In a ceremony at the port of Tonghae marking the departure of the cargo ship Sea Apex, Prime Minister Lee Hong Koo said he hoped the aid will help build trust between the two Koreas and lead to further cooperation.
South Korean officials said they will press ahead with a plan to coax Pyongyang into accepting a rapprochement, despite North Korean threats to declare their armistice agreement void.
The food aid was agreed to in talks last week in Beijing.
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