A South Korean civic group says the government should provide unconditional food aid to North Korea from a humanitarian standpoint.

In a forum held Tuesday on the food crisis in North Korea, the head of the Peace Foundation, the Venerable Beopryun, urged Seoul to provide humanitarian food aid for North Korea. The Buddhist monk said it's unpractical for the new government to insist on “reciprocity” in its policy toward the North at a time when many North Koreans are dying of starvation.

Activist Lee Seung-yong, who heads the relief agency Good Friends, also claimed that North Korea is likely to face a serious food shortage this year. He said it's been hit by flooding two years in a row, noting that many countries cut assistance after the North’s nuclear test in fall 2006.