North Korea demands South resume food aid

North Korea has demanded that South Korea resume large-scale food aid and joint economic projects in return for regularly reuniting families separated by their war more than a half-century ago, an official and news reports said Wednesday.

The demand was made Tuesday when Red Cross and government officials of the two Koreas opened two days of talks on how often to arrange reunions for families split following the 1950-53 Korean War.

There have been recent signs of an easing in tensions between the rival Koreas, which spiked in March over the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on Pyongyang. The North has released American and South Korean detainees, restored asevered communication line and arranged to hold a family reunion this weekend for the first time in more than a year.

Suchreunions are emotional for Koreans, as most of those applying are elderly and eager to see loved ones before they die. More than 20,800 family members have had brief reunions since 2000.

During Tuesday's meeting, South Korean delegates proposed holding such reunions every month and the North responded by proposing to schedule them threeor four times a year, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.

Condition attached

However, the North attached a condition for regular reunions, saying South Korea must first resume humanitarian projects for the North and hold talks on restarting tours to the North's scenic Diamond Mountain resort, a ministry official said Wednesday on condition of anonymity. The toursone of the few legitimate sources of hard currency for North Korea were suspended in 2008 following the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist by a North Korean border guard.

The official didn't say what humanitarian projects the North referred to. But South Korean media, including the mass-circulation Dong-a Ilbo newspaper, reported that North Korea asked for the resumption of large-scale shipments of rice and fertilizer.

The sides were meeting for a second day Wednesday, but details of their discussions were not immediately available.

South Korea was a major donor of food to North Korea for about a decade until conservative President Lee Myung-bak halted unconditional assistance when he took office in early 2008.

Earlier this week, South Korea sent 4,500 tonnes of rice to flood victims in North Korea, but thiswas targeted at flood relief and contrasted with the 272,000 to 363,000 tonnes of rice that Lee's two liberal predecessors had shipped to the North annually.

Meanwhile, military officers from the U.S.-led UN Command and North Korea met and discussed the ship sinking at theborder village of Panmunjom. The sides have met six times since July, but have produced nobreakthrough. Details of Wednesday's meeting were not immediately known.

The two Koreas remain technically at war, because the 1950-53 conflict ended with a ceasefire, not a peace treaty.