Korean Red Cross staff and volunteer workers remove relief goods from the Korea Express warehouse in Ilsan on Sunday to send them to Ryongchon, North Korea. North Korea Cancels Major Ceremony Due to Ryongchon Disaster Government Specifies Disaster Relief Plans for North Korea International Red Cross Staff Urgently Sent to Pyongyang 40% of Homes Destroyed, 8,000 Left Homeless Following Ryongchon Blast Finding the Ryongchon Tragedy’s Silver Lining International Relief Agencies Urge More Information About N. Korean Train Explosion Government Must Do Its Best to Send Relief Overland

An official at the South Korean Red Cross said Monday that the relief goods should be transported to the North Korean city of Ryongchon by ship, as the North was reluctant to receive any relief aid by an overland route. The relief goods would head for the disaster site on Thursday as soon as the Trade Fortune -- a regular ship plying between the South Korean port city of Inchon and the North Korean port city of Nampo -- arrives in Inchon, the official added.

The official said the regular liner leaves for North Korea every Wednesday after it arrives in Inchon and undergoes maintenance for one day. But the ship, which left on April 21, has not arrived yet, and therefore, it is difficult to send relief goods on April 28. The relief organization is trying to send relief aid as soon as possible, the official said.

The sea trip from Inchon to Nampo takes about 10 to 12 hours.

North Korea disapproved of South Korea’s suggestion to send emergency relief goods by an overland route at a liaison meeting in Panmunjom on Monday afternoon. The North proposed to hold a meeting for the two Koreas to discuss the relief issue in Gaeseong on Tueday.

Injured children from the explosion site in Ryongchon lie in hospital beds on Sunday (right photo). In front of Ryongchon Elementary School, schoolbags are scattered all over the school's sports field after the explosion. Photos provided by the World Food Program (WFP).

A government official said that the North delivered its opinion that relief goods should be sent by sea, declining to explain in detail why it refused the conveyance of relief aid by land. The North proposed to hold a meeting on rescue aid at the Janamsan Hotel in Gaeseong on Tuesday.

The South Korean Red Cross held a liaison meeting between the two Koreas at 11:00 a.m. Monday and called the North Korean Red Cross Chairman Jang Jae-eon to notify of its plan to send emergency relief goods.

(englishnews@chosun.com )