1 September 2010 / REUTERS, SEOUL
China pressed regional powers on Tuesday to restart talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and Seoul offered aid to its destitute neighbor despite a new round of US sanctions against Pyongyang.
In a move that could ease tensions on the peninsula, South Korea made its first large-scale offer of humanitarian aid to the North since the sinking of one of its warships in March. Seoul offered 10 billion won ($8.4 million) to North Korea after heavy rains in July and August in its northern and eastern provinces forced thousands from their homes and put farmland under water. Seoul cut off most of its ties with Pyongyang after accusing the North of torpedoing the Cheonan corvette and demanded an apology. North Korea says it did not carry out the attack, and has told its only major ally China it is committed to denuclearizing the peninsula and wants to resume the aid-for-disarmament talks. Analysts say the North’s willingness to return to talks could be a sign international sanctions are hurting the isolated state, whose battered economy is just 3 percent the size of the South.
