대북 쌀지원 1항차 7월 내 출발 무산... 통일부 "9월 마무리 목표 견지"
South Koreal has been unable to send its first shipment of food aid to North Korea after Pyeongyang reacted negatively to the World Food Programme about receiving assistance from Seoul.
But South Korea's unification ministry says it will still work to deliver all the rice aid by September as planned.
Oh Jung-hee reports.
South Korea had initially hoped to make the first shipment of its rice aid to North Korea by July, but that became impossible.
Last week, it was found that North Korea showed a "negative response" to the World Food Programme about receiving 50-thousand tons of rice from Seoul, citing the Seoul-Washington joint military exercises.
As that view was only expressed at a working-level meeting, not delivered via an official channel, the WFP has been trying to get the North Korean government's official stance.
And on Tuesday, Seoul's unification ministry told reporters... that discussions are ongoing between Pyeongyang and the WFP,... but there's been no clarification from the North on whether it wants to receive rice from Seoul.
There had been negotiations between the WFP and the U.S. on the exemptions that would be needed in terms of sanctions... and the WFP had started accepting bids from companies to carry out the delivery.
But the unification ministry says... there's currently no progress being made on those fronts... because the WFP needs a confirmation from the North... to determine the ship's route and sanctions to be waived.
In light of the North's worst food crisis in 10 years, Seoul had planned to provide 50-thousand tons of rice to North Korea by September this year... and hoped to make the first shipment in July.
It is the first rice aid to be sent from the South to the North in 9 years.
Seoul's unification ministry says, though it wasn't able to send the first shipment in July, it will still aim to deliver 50-thousand tons of rice by September and hopes the discussions between the North and the WFP go smoothly.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
