By Jeremy Laurence
SEOUL (Reuters) - Destitute North Korea has asked its wealthy neighbour for rice aid following severe flooding this year, the South's Unification Ministry said on Tuesday, a sign of easing tensions on the peninsula.
The request came after Seoul last week offered to provide 10 billion won (£5.54 million) in emergency aid -- including food, relief materials and first aid kits. That offer did not include rice or construction equipment, as per the North's request.
Having been in a tense standoff since the sinking of one of South Korea's navy ships in March, if the rivals can agree on a package it will be the first large scale aid shipment from Seoul since the incident.
Conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday called the move to send aid to the North "a step forward," local media reports said.
Lee halted rice aid to the North when he took office in 2008, demanding Pyongyang first give up its nuclear ambitions in a move which heralded the start of the frostiest relations between the two states in a decade.
Talk of a resumption in aid and the North's decision on Monday to release a South Korean fishing boat and its seven-man crew after a month in captivity indicates a slight thaw in frigid ties between the states which are still technically at war.
"This is a signal between the two Koreas of a pause in their tensions," said Moon Hong-sik at the South's Institute for National Security Strategy.
The fishing vessel and its crew, including three Chinese, were being handed over late on Tuesday.
Pyongyang's request for aid was made through the North's Red Cross on the weekend, the Unification Ministry said in a statement. The request is being reviewed, it said.
Heavy rains in July and August have hit food production that even in a good year falls a million tonnes short of the amount needed to feed the North's 23 million people.
South Korea has been reluctant to give rice to the North because it is worried it won't reach the people who need it most.
The United States has expanded financial sanctions against the North amid signs that the isolated state, under intense economic pressure stemming from international condemnation for its provocations, is hoping for a resumption of aid-for-disarmament talks.
South Korea had all but shut the door on dialogue with the North after the sinking of its navy ship, demanding an apology and a pledge not to repeat armed aggression, but it has come under domestic pressure to offer humanitarian assistance.
The apparent thaw comes as the North gears up for the biggest meeting of its ruling Workers' Party in 30 years this week, possibly to anoint Kim Jong-il's youngest son as successor.
(Additional reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by David Fox)
