Seoul to ink contract with WFP this week to send rice to N. Korea
- 5 years ago
정부, 국산쌀 대북지원 위해 금명간 WFP와 협약…이달 출항 목표
The government is working closely with the World Food Programme to ship 50-thousand tons of rice to North Korea as food assistance.
If everything goes smoothly, the first shipment could be sent sometime this month.
For details let's turn to our Kim Ji-yeon.
The Ministry of Unification said it plans to sign a written contract with the World Food Programme either on Tuesday or Wednesday to send rice to North Korea.
An official from the ministry told reporters Tuesday... that the WFP, which it says is in talks with North Korea, will be in charge of the entire process from transportation and distribution once the rice is loaded onto ships.
Regarding an exemption to the sanctions on the North,... the ministry said rice itself is not subject to sanctions, but that using ships to transport it could be,... implying that the delivery will be made by sea.
Once the administrative work is done, 50-thousand tons of South Korean rice packed in 1-and-a-quarter million burlap bags... containing 40 kilograms of rice each... will be labelled "Republic of Korea" in English and Korean.
The ministry official said the plan is to send the first shipments sometime this month... and considering that a vessel can generally carry five to six thousand tons at one time,... it may take up to ten rounds to send it all.
The official said the WFP is planning to set up regional offices for the distribution and monitoring of the rice... while increasing the number of monitoring agents from the current 50 or so to nearly double that number.
Meanwhile, the ministry said it's considering the proposal by the World Health Organization to participate in projects related to providing medical support in North Korea,... particularly regarding help for pregnant women and for curing malaria and tuberculosis.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.
The government is working closely with the World Food Programme to ship 50-thousand tons of rice to North Korea as food assistance.
If everything goes smoothly, the first shipment could be sent sometime this month.
For details let's turn to our Kim Ji-yeon.
The Ministry of Unification said it plans to sign a written contract with the World Food Programme either on Tuesday or Wednesday to send rice to North Korea.
An official from the ministry told reporters Tuesday... that the WFP, which it says is in talks with North Korea, will be in charge of the entire process from transportation and distribution once the rice is loaded onto ships.
Regarding an exemption to the sanctions on the North,... the ministry said rice itself is not subject to sanctions, but that using ships to transport it could be,... implying that the delivery will be made by sea.
Once the administrative work is done, 50-thousand tons of South Korean rice packed in 1-and-a-quarter million burlap bags... containing 40 kilograms of rice each... will be labelled "Republic of Korea" in English and Korean.
The ministry official said the plan is to send the first shipments sometime this month... and considering that a vessel can generally carry five to six thousand tons at one time,... it may take up to ten rounds to send it all.
The official said the WFP is planning to set up regional offices for the distribution and monitoring of the rice... while increasing the number of monitoring agents from the current 50 or so to nearly double that number.
Meanwhile, the ministry said it's considering the proposal by the World Health Organization to participate in projects related to providing medical support in North Korea,... particularly regarding help for pregnant women and for curing malaria and tuberculosis.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.