S. Korea to unveil extent of corn aid to North this week

South Korea will notify the North this week that it will provide small-scale corn aid to the impoverished country, responding to Pyongyang`s rare request for humanitarian assistance from Seoul, officials here said Sunday, according to Yonhap News.

The planned aid to the North, when announced, will be the first of its kind since South Korea`s Lee Myung-bak government came to power early last year, conditioning state-level assistance on Pyongyang`s denuclearization.

The government "will set in concrete the type and extent of the aid and present that to the North within this week," a high-ranking official involved in inter-Korean affairs said, requesting anonymity as an official announcement has yet to be made.

Other officials said the aid will consist of one to three tons of corn. Seoul has ruled out any large-scale aid, in line with its support for U.N. sanctions on North Korea imposed after Pyongyang`s nuclear test in May. The punitive sanctions aim to curb financial benefits that flow into the country and allegedly fund its atomic and missile programs.

On Oct. 16, North Korea requested humanitarian aid from the South during Red Cross talks over cross-border family reunions. It was the North`s first official request for assistance from the conservative Lee government.

Months after stoking tension with its nuclear test, North Korea shifted toward softer diplomacy with South Korea and the United States, inviting dignitaries to Pyongyang and lifting restrictions on inter-Korean business ventures in August. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il also sent high-level envoys to Seoul to mourn the death of late former President Kim Dae-jung. In a meeting with President Lee, the envoys also conveyed the North`s desire for an inter-Korean summit.