통일부 "대북식량지원, 5~9월 정도로 고려"... 김연철, 여론수렴과정 돌입<br /><br />Seoul hopes to send food aid to North Korea by September.<br />In a bid to collect opinions from all walks of life, the nation's unification minister began meeting with civic and religious groups.<br />Oh Jung-hee gets us up to speed with the developments. <br /> September of this year.<br />That's the deadline by which South Korea hopes to send food aid to North Korea.<br />Speaking to reporters Tuesday on the condition of anonymity, a unification ministry official said the government is looking to fit its plans to a report last week from the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization.<br />The report says May to September is when the North needs food aid the most, ahead of harvest season.<br />Seoul's food assistance could take one or more forms a direct shipment to the North, an indirect one through the WFP,... or a combination of both.<br />To discuss that matter plus the timing and size of the aid, Seoul's unification chief will be holding a series of meetings with representatives of the public.<br />On Thursday, he started by meeting with major civic and religious groups.<br />"Today, I'll be listening to the opinions of groups that are very involved in humanitarian work and have plenty of experience."<br />"The groups gathered here have worked on humanitarian assistance to the North for over 20 years. We've done negotiations and monitoring a number of times. If the government is going to give the North humanitarian asssistance, I hope you don't do it all yourselves. The government can do it through us. That will help lessen the political burden and we can carry out better monitoring."<br />Meanwhile, North Korea continues to release news articles on the food shortage.<br />On Thursday, the North's state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun said the drought is taking a toll on crop production.<br />Wheat and barley, it said, are drying up, and corn is also being damaged, and it urged people to protect their crops.<br />Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News. <br />
