Trucks carrying South Korea’s food aid to North Korea through the gate of Paju, North of Seoul on July 26, 2005. (Photo: AFP/ VNA)

Kim Eun-han, the ministry's deputy spokesperson, told a regular press briefing that at this moment, Seoul is continuing to push for the first shipment to be deployed in July and will do its best to make sure that the 50,000 tons of food will be delivered by September as planned.

Last month, Seoul announced its plan to provide 50,000 tons of domestically harvested rice via the World Food Programme (WFP) to help North Korea address its worsening food shortages. Discussions are underway between Seoul and WFP representatives to get exemptions on sanctions for ships and other equipment to be used for delivery.