Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoo Jeong-bok says the scale of rice aid for North Korea will be under 10-thousand tons.

Yoo told a KBS TV program Sunday that if the government approves rice aid by civic groups, the scale will not be big. He says the North has requested emergency relief aid worth ten billion won.

The minister says Seoul could consider giving rice aid given the massive oversupply of rice in South Korea and from a humanitarianism standpoint.

He also pledged efforts to reduce the rice glut by granting subsidies to farmers of other crops from 2013.

Yoo also mentioned the expected shortage of storage space for 160-thousand tons of rice, saying the government will secure warehouses for 400-thousand tons of rice.