As the Democratic Peoples' Republic of North Korea (DPRK) faces a countrywide drought with millions at risk of starvation, the South Korean government is sending 50,000 tons of rice.

It is the largest amount of aid South Korea has given to North Korea since 2008, Reuters reported. In 2010, South Korea sent a food donation of 5,000 tons of rice to North Korea.

"The government cannot ignore the plight among the North Korean people," Dr. Kim Yeon-chul, South Korea's unification minister said.

The donations will be managed by the World Food Programme (WFP).

In May, the United Nations reported that 10.1 million people in North Korea are food insecure and are in urgent need of assistance. The report also added that 11 million North Koreans are undernourished due to poor diet.

North Korea has faced food shortages before. The collapse of the Soviet Union, along with natural disasters such as floods and droughts, caused a food famine in the 1990's that killed between 240,000 and 2 million North Koreans.

North Korea is isolated internationally due to its authoritarian government under Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un and also due to its controversial nuclear program.

South Korea and North Korea are still technically at war with each other. The Korean War, which ended in 1953, resulted in the Korean Peninsula being split in half, with the DPRK in the North and the Republic of Korea in the South. The war did not end on friendly terms, resulting in a truce, not a peace treaty.

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