HUMANITARIAN FOOD AID

[Anchor Lead]

The South Korean government will consider providing nutritional support to vulnerable North Korean residents as requested by the chief of the U.N. World Food Program. Observers believe South Korea is leaning towards humanitarian food aid support for Pyongyang through an international organization.

[Pkg]

The executive director of the World Food Program David Beasley has recently visited South Korea. The UN agency recently announced that the food shortage situation in North Korea is the worst in the past decade. Beasley met with President Moon Jae-in and Seoul's foreign and unification ministers and asked for humanitarian assistance, stressing that the need for nutritional support for North Korean infants and pregnant mothers is pressing.

[Soundbite] DAVID BEASLEY(WFP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said that Seoul agrees with the World Food Program's position that humanitarian matters should be separate from political considerations, and that it will actively consider providing aid.

[Soundbite] KIM YEON-CHUL(MINISTER OF UNIFICATION) : "The ministry hopes for close consultations with the WFP regarding N. Korea humanitarian aid."

Following North Korea's recent missile launches, public opinion at home has made it difficult for the South Korean government to be seen as directly providing food aid to North Korea. This is why pundits believe Seoul is leaning towards aid support through an international organization. Pyongyang's negative stance against South Korean humanitarian aid is another reason for opting for an indirect route via a global agency. However, the government will still go ahead with meeting South Korean civic group officials to gather opinions and leave open the possibility of various aid channels.