Jeju Island Gov. Oh Young-hun (left) votes in the June 3 local elections with his wife Park Seon-hee at a polling station on Jeju Island. (Yonhap) The government of Jeju Island has sent 160 million won ($105,000) in supplies to North Korea, marking the resumption of the island province’s inter-Korean exchange project after a 16-year hiatus.The shipment included dialysis machines, 50 hallabong citrus saplings, greenhouse materials and forest pest control chemicals, according to the government on Monday.The supplies left Incheon Port on April 1, passed through Dalian Port in China and arrived at Nampo Port in North Korea on May 4, the province said.The shipment was approved by the Ministry of Unification in March. The ministry said Jeju Island’s plan complied with legal requirements under the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act.The Jeju Island government said it believes the supplies were handled by a North Korean organization supporting people with disabilities, but added that it had not received official confirmation from North Korea that the goods had arrived.According to the island government, the two sides reached a broad agreement in Beijing in February to carry out inter-Korean cooperation projects in phases, starting with citrus farming, medical welfare and forest pest control before expanding to pig farming and tourism.The project gained momentum after Jeju Island Gov. Oh Young-hun met Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Nov. 5 last year and requested cooperation in resuming citrus shipments to North Korea.Oh also asked Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing on Nov. 18 for China’s support in facilitating inter-Korean cooperation.The move came after Oh and Jeju Island officials were reported to have met Ri Ho-nam, a North Korean operative affiliated with the Reconnaissance General Bureau, and other North Korean officials in Beijing in February. Officials declined to disclose the venue or the identities of the North Korean officials involved.Ri has appeared several times in connection with past inter-Korean exchanges and was also mentioned during the trial over the 2019 remittance case involving Ssangbangwool Group’s alleged transfer of funds to North Korea.The reported contact is expected to draw political scrutiny over how Oh came to meet Ri and whether proper procedures were followed.The exchange comes as direct communication between the Koreas has largely stalled amid tensions over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and the previous South Korean administration’s hard-line stance toward Pyongyang.Jeju Island’s inter-Korean exchange project had been largely suspended since 2010, after South Korea imposed sanctions following the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan, which a multinational investigation concluded was caused by a North Korean torpedo attack.