Food for North Korea

SEOUL: Even as tensions rose between the two countries over North Korea's decision to accept nuclear waste from Taiwan, South Korea appears ready to begin shipping desperately needed food aid to the North. According to the Hankyoreh Shinmun newspaper, the U.S. and South Korea will begin shipments shortly after the deal is finalized sometime next week. In return, North Korea would attend talks with U.S. and South Korea on signing a peace treaty to officially end the 1950-1953 Korean War. If true, the move would mark a significant turnaround for South Korea, which previously has refused to link food aid to negotiations. Any aid carries painful political baggage for North Korea, which was forced to back down earlier this week from its official "socialist paradise" ideology with a public admission that severe grain harvest shortfalls were causing "temporary food problems." Relief workers warn that North Korea is headed toward a famine which would surpass even the 1985 Ethiopian food crisis, with potential victims numbering in the tens of millions.