South Korea was set to restart fertilizer shipments to North Korea on Tuesday, marking the official resumption of economic assistance to the impoverished country amid easing tension over Pyongyang's nuclear program.A Vietnamese-registered cargo ship was to depart the southwestern port of Yeosu in the early afternoon for North Korea, carrying 6,500 tons of composite fertilizer -- the first batch of a 300,000-ton shipment, the Unification Ministry said in a statement.
The South's official aid to North Korea has been suspended since July when North Korea test-fired a series of missiles, although some emergency relief supplies were sent later to help the North cope with heavy floods.
Aid was kept on hold in the wake of the North's October nuclear test, but ties between the Koreas improved markedly after North Korea promised in international disarmament talks last month to take initial steps to dismantle its atomic programs.
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