International   

South Korea offers aid to North

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: South Korea on Sunday announced an emergency aid package for North Korea on a purely "humanitarian" basis. The offer was described as a one-time exception to the current economic embargo that Seoul had imposed on Pyongyang following its recent testing of multiple ballistic missiles.

The package, consisting of rice and flood-relief materials, would be sent before August-end.

There was no firm estimate of the total cost, but the rice component of 100,000 tonnes was alone worth over $ 200 million. The recent floods in North Korea are estimated to have killed at least 150 persons, as indicated by Pyongyang, while the unofficial toll is of the order 800. Extensive infrastructure damage was also reported.

Announcing the aid, South Korea's Vice-Minister for [inter-Korean] Unification, Shin Un-sang said in Seoul that the package was entirely different from the currently-suspended flow of economic goodies for the same-ethnic North. The regular aid, he said, would be resumed only if North Korea were to agree to the resumption of the long-stalled six-party parleys.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Gunmen ambush Shia pilgrims; 17 killed
71 Taliban militants killed in battle
Colombo claims 100 Tigers killed in latest Jaffna battle
Lebanon warns militant groups against violating the ceasefire
South Korea offers aid to North
Price hikes withdrawn
Computer composer takes to the stage
Blast in gas pipeline
Troops make foray
Two forced out of flight from Spain to U.K.
India, Singapore seek `interoperability' of air forces

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu