A council meeting on inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation on Tuesday approved a plan to send rice aid to North Korea.

The country can now provide state loans for rice aid worth 190 billion won including expenses for the purchase of 500,000 tons of rice and transportation.

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young chaired the meeting.

After reaching a general agreement on rice aid at the 15th inter-Korean ministerial talks last month, the two Koreas agreed on the aid volume of 500,000 tons at their tenth meeting on economic cooperation in Seoul early this month.