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SEOUL: North Korea has asked for rice and cement aid from South Korea before announcing the release of a South Korean boat seized last month for illegal fishing, a report said Tuesday.
Yonhap news agency said the request for rice, cement and heavy construction equipment was made Saturday to the South's Red Cross through its North Korean counterpart.
A spokeswoman for Seoul's unification ministry said she was checking the report.
Cross-border relations have been icy since Seoul accused Pyongyang of torpedoing of one its warships in March, killing 46 people.
However, the South's Red Cross has offered the North aid worth 10 billion won (US$8.3 million) following severe floods.
It offered to ship instant noodles, bottled water, medication and other daily necessities but rice, cement and heavy construction equipment were not included.
North Korea announced Monday it would release on Tuesday the fishing boat and its seven crew -- four South Koreans and three Chinese -- seized on August 8 off the east coast of the divided peninsula.
Seoul has in recent years supplied the North with massive annual rice and fertiliser aid. This was suspended in 2008 as relations worsened after conservative President Lee Myung-Bak took office in Seoul.
-AFP/wk
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