SKorea allows aid to be sent to North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea approved sending humanitarian aid to North Korean children Wednesday despite its punitive measures on the impoverished country for the deadly sinking of a warship. North Korea, which has faced chronic food shortages since flooding and mismanagement destroyed its economy in the mid-1990s, typically falls at least 1 million tons short of food every year and relies on outside assistance to feed its 24 million people. Requests by two South Korean foundations to send aid to North Korean children were approved by the Unification Ministry. "While South Korea will, in principle, hold off on inter-Korean business projects, we will continue providing purely humanitarian aid for the weak like infants and children," Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo told reporters. She said about $3.2 million (400 million won) worth of milk and powdered formula will be sent later this month for children in northern Hamgyong province and a Pyongyang nursery. Tensions have been high on the Korean peninsula after the March 26 sinking of a South Korean warship off the west coast — one of South Korea's worst military disasters since the 1950-53 Korean War. An international probe concluded a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine tore the ship in two, killing 46 sailors. North Korea has denied responsibility and threatened "all-out war" against any retaliatory response. South Korea cut trade with its impoverished neighbor last month, and officially filed an appeal to the U.N. Security Council on Friday aiming to punish Pyongyang. It was the first time the South has taken the North to the Security Council for an inter-Korean provocation, despite a history of being attacked by North Korea. — AP