South Korea said Thursday it has decided to donate 50,000 tons of rice to six countries suffering from deepening poverty amid the prolonged new coronavirus pandemic.

The rice will be sent to refugees and other vulnerable people in Yemen, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Syria and Laos under cooperation with the World Food Programme (WFP) this year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Seoul kicked off the rice aid program following its 2018 accession to the Food Assistance Convention, which promotes global food security and provides humanitarian food assistance to developing countries.

South Korea provided food aid to Yemen, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda last year.

South Korea expects the distribution of the donated rice to the recipients to start in June. (Yonhap)