South Korea said Wednesday it has suspended shipping promised flood aid to North Korea after the communist state mounted a deadly artillery attack on a South Korean island a day earlier.
The aid, delivered in the name of the Red Cross but heavily financed by the Seoul government, was promised in September after North Korea had been battered by heavy rains.
Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said in a briefing in Seoul that 5,000 tons of rice, 3 million packs of instant noodles and 3,000 tons of cement have been sent to the North Korean town of Sinuiju bordering China as of Wednesday.
But 7,000 tons of cement remain to be delivered, Chun said, adding that medical supplies worth 580 million won (US$500,000) will also be stopped from being sent to the North.