Soldiers load boxes packed with tangerines to be sent to the North on a South Korean cargo plane at Jeju Airport on Nov. 11. (Ministry of National Defense)
By Kang Gahui and Yoon Sojung
South Korea sent 200 tons of tangerines, a local specialty produced on Jeju Island, to the North.
This is a gift from the South in return for the North’s gift of mushrooms during the latest Inter-Korean Summit this September in Pyeongyang.
Cheong Wa Dae Spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom said on Nov. 11 that “South Korean cargo planes loaded with tangerines from Jeju Island headed from Jeju Airport beginning at 8 a.m. to Sunan International Airport in Pyeongyang.”
“This is a gift from the South as a token of gratitude for the North’s gift of two tons of mushrooms,” he said.
Four cargo planes delivered the tangerines packed in a total of 20,000 boxes in two trips from Jeju Island to Pyeongyang. The first cargo plane was boarded by Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung and presidential secretary for unification policy Suh Ho.
This is the first large-scale goods transfer led by the South Korean government to the North in the eight years since the South decided to impose sanctions against North Korea on May 24, 2010. It is a gift, however, not inter-Korean exchange according to the government. Agricultural produce were not embargoed items when the U.S. or the U.N. imposed sanctions against the North, the government explained.
This is not the first time tangerines from Jeju Island made its presence in inter-Korean diplomacy. Jeju Island sent more than four tons of tangerines to the North from 1999 to 2010. North Korea invited approximately 750 Jeju residents in return for the gifts.
kgh89@korea.kr
