Lee said the North informed Seoul of the situation and asked for medicine and other aid to battle the livestock virus.

The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease occurred at a farm near Pyongyang last January forcing a cull of 466 cows and 2,630 pigs presumed to have been infected.

Lee said that the North had requested the antibody for the disease, diagnosis kits, spray guns, sterilizers and other related supplies and that South Korean ministry officials were discussing how much to send.

According to the minister, the North first appealed to international organizations for assistance in fighting the disease but when Seoul heard about the problem the government immediately offered its help.

Lee also said that when former prime minister Lee Hae-chan visited the North recently, Pyongyang asked that Seoul restart shipments of emergency aid supplies for flood victims that were halted after the North's nuclear test last year.

(englishnews@chosun.com )