South Korea’s Jeju provincial government recently dispatched dialysis machines, tangerine saplings, and other supplies to North Korea as part of an inter-Korean cooperation project. The items, valued at 160 million won (US$104,000), reached North Korea’s Nampho port on May 4 after being shipped from South Korea’s Incheon port on April 1 via China’s Dalian port. The province revealed that it had sought approval from the unification ministry on March 9 to send these supplies, including medical equipment and citrus fruit saplings.
The provincial government mentioned that the aid was sent in collaboration with a North Korean support group for the disabled, although they are yet to receive confirmation of the delivery from North Korea. This initiative was initiated after Governor Oh Young-hun discussed inter-Korean cooperation projects with Unification Minister Chung Dong-young in November. In February, a provincial delegation held discussions with North Korean officials and agreed to implement cooperation projects in stages, starting with tangerines, medical welfare, and forest pest control.
The agreement also outlined plans to expand cooperation to include pig farming and tourism in the future. However, the Jeju government did not confirm reports suggesting that Governor Oh had met with Ri Ho-nam, a North Korean intelligence operative, in Beijing in February. Ri Ho-nam has been linked to a 2019 North Korea remittance case, where prosecutors alleged that funds were illicitly transferred to him in Manila. Past inter-Korean projects saw Jeju sending tangerines and carrots to North Korea between 1998 and 2010, but these efforts were halted after the 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship by a North Korean attack.
The province did make sporadic tangerine deliveries to North Korea in 2018 and 2021, despite the suspension of broader cooperation projects.
