South Korea will begin providing the second shipment of steel plates promised to North Korea in a six-party nuclear deal.

The Unification Ministry said Tuesday that a ship carrying some 28-hundred tons of steel plates worth more than two billion won will leave the southeastern port of Pohang for Nampo on the North's west coast on Friday.

South Korea provided about five-thousand tons of steel plates in the first batch of energy aid in December.

Under a six-way nuclear agreement, North Korea was promised 450-thousand tons of heavy fuel oil and energy-related equipment and materials worth 500-thousand tons of oil from South Korea, the United States, China and Russia.

In return, the North agreed to disable its key nuclear facilities and declare all nuclear programs by the end of 2007.