‘You can’t turn rice into nuclear weapons’: South Korea to send 50,000 tonnes of rice to feed drought-hit North Korea

Seoul’s announcement came a day before Chinese President Xi Jinping was to travel to Pyongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

It is the South’s largest donation since 2008 and is expected to help support up to 2 million children, pregnant women and nursing mothers

Reading Time:3 minutes

A farmer fertilises rice seedlings in fields near Pyongyang in 2017. Photo: AP

Published: 7:41pm, 19 Jun 2019Updated: 11:01am, 20 Jun 2019

South Korea said on Wednesday it would send 50,000 tonnes of rice to the North through the UN’s World Food Programme – the second such aid package to be announced in recent weeks.

Pyongyang has said it is facing droughts, and UN aid agencies have said food production fell “dramatically” last year, leaving more than 10 million North Koreans at risk.

You can’t turn rice into nuclear weapons

Lee Ha-neul, North Korean defector

According to South Korean officials the rice to be sent is worth 127 billion won (US$108 million) and they aim to have it delivered before September.

Seoul’s announcement came a day before Chinese President Xi Jinping was to travel to Pyongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a visit that observers expect to also be accompanied by offers of assistance in food, fertiliser and medicine.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pictured with Chinese President Xi Jinping in January. Photo: AP

For Lee Ha-neul, a 42-year-old defector who fled to the South in 2009, Seoul’s announcement on Wednesday made her think of the parents and brothers she had left behind.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x