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South Korea has for the first time in history officially decided to give cash to North Korea, in the amount of W400 million (US$1=W945). In 2000, the South Korean government secretly remitted about $500 million to Pyongyang prior to the first inter-Korean summit, but this will be the first time for Seoul to give Pyongyang money under an agreement reached in broad daylight. "We've decided to supply North Korea with building materials worth about W3.5 billion for the construction of a family reunion center equipped with video facilities. Among the expenses, we agreed to give Pyongyang about W400 million in cash,ˇ± a South Korean government official said Sunday. The reason, he said, is that some materials including LCD monitors needed for the video facilities are banned for export to North Korea under the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, which prohibit exports of goods containing more than 10 percent of American components or technology to states sponsoring terrorism.
Not all government officials are happy that Seoul decided to give cash to Pyongyang although there are ways to ask Washington to lift the ban on some items. Another South Korean government official said, ˇ°In a similar case, we used to discuss it with the U.S. when we sent strategic goodsˇ± to the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North.
A Unification Ministry said, "We attach importance to the humanitarian aspect. We also agreed with the North that we can check how it purchases and uses those materials, so thereˇŻll be no suspicion about the possibility of those materials being diverted for other purposes." The official hinted Seoul decided to send cash to expedite family reunions via video link. "In case of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, there was no problem because the end users of the goods are South Korean enterprises. But this case is somewhat different. If we had negotiated with the U.S., it would have taken considerable time or we would have had difficulty reaching an agreementˇ± with Washington.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross organizations of the two Koreas agreed to resume building the family reunion center at Mt.Kumgang, suspended last July, on March 21.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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