NKorea demands SKorea resume large-scale food aid

[October 27, 2010]  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea demanded that South Korea resume large-scale food aid and joint economic projects in return for regular reunions of family members separated by the Korean War more than a half century ago, South Korea's Red Cross said Wednesday.

The demand was made when Red Cross and government officials of both countries met on Tuesday and Wednesday for talks on how often to arrange the brief reunions of families split by the 1950-53 war, according to a statement from South Korea's Red Cross.

No major breakthrough was produced following two days of talks at the North Korean border town of Kaesong, and both sides agreed to meet again next month.

There have been recent signs of an easing of tensions between the rival Koreas, which spiked in March over the sinking of a South Korean warship that Seoul blamed on the North. North Korea has released American and South Korean detainees, restored a key severed communication line and arranged to hold a family reunion this weekend for the first time in more than a year.

The reunions are emotional for Koreans, as most participants are elderly and are eager to see loved ones before they die. More than 20,800 family members have had reunions since 2000.

During this week's talks, South Korean delegates proposed holding such reunions every month, but the North linked the issue to the resumption of joint economic projects. The North called on South Korea to ship 500,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer, the Red Cross statement said.

The South Korean delegates responded they were not authorized to determine whether to accept North Korea's request. Both countries' delegations were headed by Red Cross officials.

The North also demanded that South Korea also hold talks on restarting tours to North Korea's scenic Diamond Mountain resort, the statement said.

The tours -- which had been one of the few legitimate sources of hard currency for North Korea -- were suspended in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist by a North Korean guard.

South Korea was a major donor of food to North Korea for about a decade until conservative President Lee Myung-bak halted unconditional assistance when he took office in early 2008.

Earlier this week, South Korea sent 5,000 tons of rice to flood victims in North Korea, but it was aimed at flood relief and contrasted with the 300,000-400,000 tons of rice that Lee's two liberal predecessors had shipped to the North annually.

Meanwhile, military officers from the U.S.-led U.N. Command and North Korea met and discussed the warship's sinking at the Korean border village of Panmunjom, but ended with no major breakthrough, according to the U.N. Command. It was their seventh meeting since July.

The two Koreas remain technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

[Associated Press; By HYUNG-JIN KIM]

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