Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Seoul has offered a small amount of food aid to North Korea, the first in two years since the election of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who in those same years continued to threaten a nuclear escalation nuclear. The shipment consists of 10 thousand tons of wheat, along with humanitarian aid and essential supplies for children, mothers and people in need.

The material offered by Seoul is far from meeting the needs of the North, a victim of cyclical famines. South Korean officials – awaiting a signal of acceptance from North Korea - point out that the aid shipment, announced yesterday, does not change Seoul’s policy toward Pyongyang; a step up in large scale support, remains conditional on an interruption of their nuclear program.  

"There has been no particular response by the North yet," says Lee Jong-joo, a spokesman for the South Korean Unification Ministry. "But the Red Cross - adds the woman - believes that the North will accept [aid] and proceed with the preparation." The amount of this first round of direct aid consists of 10 thousand tons of wheat, worth 33 million U.S. dollars, to which are added 20 tons of powdered milk and some medicines. The ministry adds that it will take at least a month for the delivery of the material.

Lee Myung-bak’s predecessor, in the last decade, annually provided about 300 thousand tons of fertilizer and 500 thousand tons of rice to the North. From the political point of view there have been only small improvements in relations between North and South, but no stop to nuclear activities. The provision of large-scale aid was interrupted with the ascent to the presidency of the conservative Lee, who has repeatedly stated his intention to support the impoverished North Korean economy, only in exchange for the interruption of the nuclear program.  

Each year, North Korea needs at least one million tons of food, which is not able to produce within the country. Military policies, inadequate agricultural programs and natural disaster contribute to crop failure. This is why Pyongyang relies on foreign aid to be able to feed its 24 million inhabitants. The load set by Seoul yesterday is a further sign of the climate of détente between the two Koreas, after months of verbal clashes and Northern military experiments that have even raised the spectre of a war.