S Korea to support civilian aid to North in hope of talks

Seoul: South Korea’s government said Friday it will promote civilian efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea in hopes of softening a diplomatic freeze deepened by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s growing nuclear ambitions.

South Korean Unification Minister Kwon Youngse didn’t specify the type of aid he sees as conceivable or whether it was realistic to expect those exchanges to induce meaningful diplomatic breakthroughs.

North Korea has suspended virtually all cooperation with rival South Korea since the collapse of its nuclear negotiations with the United States in 2019 over disagreements in exchanging the release of US-led sanctions and steps to cut back its nuclear weapons and missiles programme.

Kim further ramped up tensions in 2022, test-firing more than 70 missiles, including potentially nuclear-

capable weapons of various ranges targeting South Korea and the continental United States. Kim punctuated his testing activity with provocative statements that North Korea would preemptively use its nukes in crisis situations against South Korea or the

US.