Some 200,000 tons South Korean fertilizer was finally sent north, with the first shipments going by truck across the DMZ. The South Koreans insisted on some of it going by truck (the North demands sea shipments), so that ordinary North Koreans could see where the fertilizer was coming from. The North Korean propagandists have long maintained that foreign aid like this is a form of tribute paid by foreign nations in awe of the power and success of North Korea. This fantasy has become threadbare and transparent in the last decade. Most North Koreans know that their government is run by doctrinaire, although ruthless, incompetents.