The Red Cross in Seoul has notified its North Korean counterpart of its plan to send an additional 100,000 tons of fertilizer.

The South Korean Red Cross sent the telephone message, saying the shipment will be delivered after internal procedures are completed.

Pyongyang had asked Seoul three times for the fertilizer aid, once last month and twice this month.

A South Korean official noted the additional shipment is intended to assist North Koreans on humanitarian grounds, adding that the impoverished state suffers from a lack of one million tons of fertilizer every year.

In the phone message, the South Korean Red Cross took the opportunity to call on the North to swiftly hold inter-Korean talks to discuss matters of reuniting families of each sides and setting up a permanent venue for future such reunions.