Humanitarian aid South Korea aims to supply to North Korea has yet to be dispatched as reports of resistance to accepting the aid have trickled in from Pyongyang.

The Unification Ministry said Wednesday that the World Food Program(WFP), the agency through which Seoul aims to provide the aid, became aware of such objections in the process of holding working-level talks with the communist state. 

The ministry said it hopes to confirm the North’s official stance on the humanitarian aid via the WFP.

As part of efforts to help the North with an ongoing food shortage, the South Korean government earlier this year decided to provide 50-thousand tons of rice via the WFP on humanitarian grounds. 

Seoul had since concluded a deal with the UN food agency on the matter and had been carrying out related procedures. 

Initially, the government was prepared to send its first batch of rice to the North this month, but that timeline now appears to be extended indefinitely.

[Photo : YONHAP News]