SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Wednesday urged the Lee Myung-bak government to entirely change its North Korea policy and resume rice and fertilizer assistance.
| Because the only people the DPs won't appease are Americans ... |
DP floor leader Lee Kang-rae said in his parliamentary speech that massive rice shipments to the communist North are inevitable in order to address the problem of falling rice prices in the South.
But the DP leader also called on North Korea to return to the six-party talks and give up its nuclear program in return for food shipments from the South.
"North Korea should immediately abandon its nuclear weapons program. The Lee Myung-bak government should also overhaul its North Korea policy and resume fertilizer and rice assistance, as his liberal predecessors did," said the DP leader. "Rice shipment to the North is particularly needed to cope with falling rice prices at home."
| So this is just about trying to grab up some of the farming vote at home. |
The Lee government has linked the resumption of full-scale food aid to North Korea to its denuclearization, although it last week offered to give the North limited volumes of corn and other humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, the DP floor leader asked the Lee government to review a host of controversial policy projects, including the development of four major rivers, downsizing of the previous government's plan to move key government ministries out of Seoul, and tax reductions for conglomerates and high income earners. |