North Korea asks South for help despite row

NORTH KOREA has asked its wealthy neighbour for rice aid following severe flooding this year, the South's Unification Ministry said yesterday, a sign of easing tensions on the peninsula.

The request came after Seoul last week offered to provide 10 billion won (US$8.5 million) in emergency aid — including food, relief materials and first aid kits. That offer did not include rice or construction equipment, as per the North's request.

Having been in a tense standoff since the sinking of one of South Korea's navy ships in March, if the rivals can agree on a package it will be the first large scale aid shipment from Seoul since the incident.

Conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak yesterday the move to send aid to the North "a step forward", local media reports said. Lee halted rice aid to the North when he took office in 2008, demanding Pyongyang first give up its nuclear ambitions in a move which heralded the start of the frostiest relations between the two states in a decade.

Talk of a resumption in aid and the North's decision on Monday to release a South Korean fishing boat and its seven-man crew after a month in captivity indicates a slight thaw in frigid ties between the states which are still technically at war.Reuters