South Korea sends food to North Korea after floods

South Korea on Monday sent 5,000 tons of rice to flood victims in North Korea in its first humanitarian rice shipment to its communist neighbour since 2008.

The two Koreas remain technically at war, since their conflict in the 1950’s ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

Heavy flooding swamped farmland, houses and public buildings in the North Korean province of Sinuiju in August.

The UN’s World Food Programme’s Marcus Prior says the help is welcome.

“The country suffers from a structural food deficit,” he told Vatican Radio. “The communities most affected are those women and children who are the most vulnerable to deficiencies in their diet, and need the kind of support we can offer.” Listen: