The government will send 62-hundred tons of heavy fuel oil to North Korea on Thursday to compensate Pyongyang for its nuclear dismantlement in accordance with February's six-way agreement.

Wednesday's shipment is the first batch out of a total 50-thousand tons to be provided by Seoul.

A South Korean Unification Ministry official says that a vessel, the "Gu Hanchang," will begin loading the oil at Ulsan Port at noon on Wednesday. It will leave the southeastern port city at noon the next day, with an expected arrival at North Korea's Seonbong Port on Saturday.

On Monday, the South's Public Procurement Service signed a 22-point-two billion won contract with oil supplier SK Energy to cover the oil, transfer and insurance costs.