South Korea will send some emergency aid to North

SEOUL, Jun 14 (Reuters) South Korea said today that it would send a small amount of food to the impoverished North as part of an international aid effort but any large shipments would remain dependent on Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament.

Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said Seoul would meet a World Food Programme (WFP) request to send 44,000 tonnes of food aid, over half it corn, across the heavily fortified border.

''Regarding the request, our government has taken into account the difficult food situation of North Korea ... our responsibility in the international community and domestic public opinion about humanitarian support,'' Lee told reporters.

Last month, the United Nations food agency said it would have to suspend rations in June for up to 700,000 North Koreans because of a lack of donations.

North Korea, barely able to feed its population in the best of crop years, has been all but frozen out of the international community since it carried out a nuclear test last October.

South Korea had promised to send in 400,000 tonnes of rice to help its reclusive neighbour through lean times but later -- to Pyongyang's fury -- said North Korea would first have to honour a pledge to start dismantling its nuclear weapons programme.

However, that pledge, agreed at international talks in February, has been put on ice in a dispute over North Korean funds stuck in a Macao bank. That dispute now appears to be close to a resolution.

Lee said the government had also agreed to send 10,500 tonnes of rice to the North as part of a promise last year to help it recover from flood damage.

REUTERS SG SSC1355