SEOUL, March 2 (UPI) -- South Korea said it will not provide rice to North Korea until the country takes steps to dismantle its nuclear facilities, effectively linking economic aid to a resolution of the nuclear standoff.
At the high-level talks with the North that ended on Friday, however, the South agreed to provide fertilizer aid to the famine-hit neighbor which could be used for the spring sowing season.
In a final agreement at the ministerial talks in Pyongyang, Kim Jong-Il reiterated its commitment to the Feb. 13 nuclear accord under which it promised to shut down and seal its plutonium-producing reactor within 60 days and admit U.N. nuclear inspectors. In return, Pyongyang would receive up to one million tons of heavy fuel oil and equivalent energy under the nuclear accord reached at the six-nation talks which also involve the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
The two Koreas "agreed to make joint efforts to smoothly implement the six-party agreement so as to ensure the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and its peace," said the joint statement issued at the end of the four-day ministerial talks, the first such meeting since the North's nuclear test in October.
The two sides agreed to hold vice ministerial meetings on economic cooperation to discuss rice shipment and other aid packages on April 18-21 -- after the April 14 deadline for the North to close its nuclear reactors under the Feb. 13 deal.
The North had initially demanded the economic meeting be held later this month, but it was refused by the South which called for the North's prior actions to dismantle its nuclear facilities.
But Seoul agreed to have working-level contacts for Red Cross talks on March 9 which will discuss fertilizer aid and humanitarian programs. Sources in Seoul said the South may ship fertilizer aid to the North soon after the working-level talks.
South Korea's chief negotiator also indicated that fertilizer will be provided to the North in time for the spring rice planting. "This year, spring is coming early, so I believe the timing should be advanced," Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung was quoted as saying by pool reports from the North's capital.
The South has suspended its annual aid of 500,000 tons of rice and 350,000 tons of fertilizer after the North's missile tests in July. Seoul's state-run think tank Korea Rural Economic Institute warns the North could face a shortage of over 2 million tons of food if the South and the world withhold aid this year.
The South has already allocated $395.2 million (371.5 billion won) for food and fertilizer aid for the North, but refused the North's demand of immediate rice shipment, in a bid to induce the North into carrying out its disarmament commitment and moving toward cross-border reconciliation.
Under Friday's agreement, the North agreed to conduct the long-delayed test run of trains on rebuilt tracks through their heavily fortified border in the first half of the year, which would be a highly symbolic event to promote inter-Korean economic cooperation and exchanges. The test run was originally planed early last year, but was called off by the North.
Pyongyang also agreed to resume reunions of families divided by the border. The two Koreas "agreed to resume joint projects in the humanitarian sector and make efforts to achieve an actual solution to the issue of families separated by the border," the joint statement said.
The ministerial meeting, held after a seven-month hiatus, is the highest-level dialogue channel to coordinate cross-border reconciliation and cooperation since the 2000 summit between the two Koreas.
This week's talks, the 20th since the summit, come two weeks after a groundbreaking agreement on ending the North's nuclear drive. The two Koreas will hold the 21st round of ministerial talks in Seoul on May 29-June 1.
