|
North Korea on Wednesday officially asked the South to help it overcome damage from devastating floods that killed hundreds there last month.
In a fax to the South Korean side of an inter-Korean committee, Pyongyang asked for construction materials and equipment, food, blankets and drugs rather than ramyeon (instant noodles) and clothing. Although the North did not directly use the word, ¡°food¡± appeared to mean rice, a South Korean official said.
Seoul suspended rice shipments to North Korea after Pyongyang¡¯s July 5 missile tests.
The official said the government is in discussion with humanitarian organizations over the scope of aid and has not made a final decision. The groups have reportedly asked the government to spend W10 billion (US$1=W960) on relief for North Korea. An official with one of the groups said they managed to collect donations of W2-3 billion, but this was not enough, and urged the government to provide building materials and equipment and rice. The South Korean side of the inter-Korean committee wants to establish how much North Korea wants at a committee meeting in the North¡¯s Mt.Kumgang resort.
South Korean civic groups are expected to increase their aid for the starvation-hit country in the wake of the official request, but the government will only supply one-off emergency relief rather than shipping the 500,000 tons of rice and 100,000 tons of fertilizer to the North until the Stalinist country takes ¡°appropriate¡± measures over its missile tests, a government official said.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
