Asia-Pacific

ROK still considering food aid to DPRK despite EU pledge

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-07-05 16:45

SEOUL - Republic of Korea (ROK) is still reviewing the need for food aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), an official here said, a day after the European Union pledged 10 million euros in urgent food aid to the impoverished country.

"The ROK's government is continuing the review of the need for food aid to North Korea (DPRK), taking into consideration the country's food needs and transparency in aid distribution," foreign ministry spokesman Cho Byung-je told reporters in a regular press briefing.

The remark comes after the European Commission said Monday food aid will go to those most in need "during the most difficult period of the worst year for food production in recent times."

The Commission said the DPRK authorities have agreed to a strict monitoring system to ensure aid will go straight to the intended recipients.

"The (monitoring) system is an indispensable one that would ensure food aid to the North will serve its original humanitarian purposes," the spokesman said, hinting at Seoul's suspicion over misappropriation of aid.

Seoul officials have appeared lackadaisical at best to calls for food aid to Pyongyang by United Nations agencies.

Last year, ROK suspended aid to its estranged northern neighbor as relations between the two former wartime enemies soured, allowing only occasional emergency humanitarian aid for the most vulnerable.