This is a lot of fertilizer....wow. They sure seem to be worried about the DPRK collapsing or getting into worse economic shape than it is right now. While humanitarian concerns obviously have a great deal of bearing, this is just a lot of fertilizer.
By Jon Herskovitz and Kim Yoo-chul Mon Jun 27, 3:21 AM ET
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will send more fertilizer to North Korea to help the impoverished communist state battle chronic food shortages caused by its weak farm sector, a South Korean government official said on Monday.
South Korean officials have said they hope bilateral humanitarian assistance will help to coax the North back to stalled talks on its nuclear weapons programs.
Seoul will send an additional 150,000 tonnes of fertilizer to the North starting Monday. The aid is on top of 200,000 tonnes the South completed shipping earlier this month, a spokesman for the South's Unification Ministry said by telephone.
Last week, the South Korean Red Cross said it received the request from the North for the additional fertilizer and asked Seoul to grant the request on humanitarian grounds.
At bilateral ministerial-level meetings last week in Seoul, North Korea requested 500,000 tonnes of separate food aid, which the South agreed in principle to deliver. But the South left the actual amount open for future discussions.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Well, just for personal amusement i decided to check just how much fertilizer that is, and it would be possible to put all 150,000 pounds of the origional shipment onto 2 very long, very heavy freight trains. That being said, it is still a lot. I think it is just another example of how much, after seeing the economic impact of East Germany upon West Germany after reunification, S. Korea wants nothing to do with a North Korean collapse and potential reunification.
Post a Comment