South Korea plans to complete the shipment of fertilizer aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) by mid-June in consideration of the imminent rice- planting season, South Korean officials said Thursday.

In the just-ended working-level talks, South Korea pledged to give 200,000 tons of fertilizer aid to the DPRK, as part of its implementation of an agreement with the latter Thursday, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

Chances are high that Seoul will provide additional fertilizer aid as the two sides agreed to continue to discuss the issue at the ministerial talks to be held in Seoul on June 21-24, the report said.

The (South) Korean National Red Cross will be responsible for purchasing and transporting the fertilizer. The first shipment will be made via an inter-Korean road along the west coast Saturday, and thereafter by road and sea routes simultaneously, the officials said.

South Korea sent 155,000 tons of fertilizer in humanitarian aid to the DPRK for the first time in 1999, and 200,000-300,000 tons annually in the following years, the report said.

Source: Xinhua