S Korea sends aid to North

Talks start on reunions:

S KOREA: A convoy of South Korean trucks carrying the first rice aid to North Korea in three years crossed the peninsula’s heavily armed border Friday in the latest of a series of conciliatory moves between the rivals.

At the same time, officials from both countries met in the North Korean border town of Kaesung to discuss the resumption of reunions of families split by the Korean War which were halted after the sinking of a South Korean warship earlier this year.

Relations between the two Koreas have soured since conservative President Lee Myun-bak’s election in 2008, and then sank to their lowest point in decades at the start of the year with the sinking of a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors. Former US President Jimmy Carter, who visited Pyongyang last month, said the North was now sending a clear and strong signal to Washington and Seoul that it wanted to restart aid-for-disarmament talks.

Seoul, with Washington’s backing, accused Pyongyang of torpedoing its warship in March, and responded with toughened sanctions against its already weak economy and by staging a series of intimidating joint military drills off the peninsula. Pyongyang denies it sank the South’s vessel but there have been signs of a thaw since North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s surprise trip to ally China late last month. PAJU, Friday, Reuters