Rice shipments to North Korea this year are expected to end late this week, five months after the first left at the end of July.

A government official said Tuesday that the planned delivery of 500,000 tons of rice this year will wrap up this month after the last ship departs from a South Korean port Thursday.

Shipping of some 100,000 tons of Thai rice began in late November.

Since the first shipment on July 26th, Seoul has sent 100,000 tons of rice by land via the East Coast and Gyeongeui rail lines connecting Seoul and Pyongyang and the remainder by sea.