Updated Mar.20,2008 08:52 KST

Photos of N.Korea Diverting Rice Aid to Army Revealed
The South Korean military captured North Korean authorities in flagrante delicto diverting rice intended for humanitarian purposes to the military, taking pictures near the Demilitarized Zone between 2006 and 2007 with a high-performance camera while monitoring the movements of the North Korean military.


In one photo (left), North Korean soldiers load rice sacks with a clear Red Cross mark onto a truck. Rice provided by South Korea as humanitarian aid bear a Red Cross mark, unlike rice provided in the form of loans. In another photo (right) the Red Cross-marked sacks are moved to guard posts.

The photos were reported to the Unification Ministry and Cheong Wa Dae under the previous government, and to President Lee Myung-bak's transition team last month. Since 2003, the South Korean military has caught North Korea diverting more than 400 sacks of rice over 10 occasions to soldiers in frontline units.

(englishnews@chosun.com )