North Korean Economy Watch

From the Korea Times:
Ship Carries 1st Flood Relief to North
8/30/2006
Lee Jin-woo

The South Korean government has shipped its first batch of flood relief to North Korea via the Red Cross, the Ministry of Unification said yesterday.

The shipment included some rice, the supply of which had been halted since the North’s test-firing of missiles on July 5. The government has made it clear that the humanitarian aid is unrelated to the government’s halted periodic aid provided annually to the communist state.

The shipment comprising 300 tons of rice and 20,000 blankets as well as other emergency relief supplies was made through the Korean National Red Cross (KNRC) and set out from Inchon port, west of Seoul, the ministry said.

The ship, Trade Fortune, is expected to arrive at the North Korean port of Nampo in a day or two. Four Red Cross officials are on board to supervise the delivery, a KNRC official said.

The total aid, comprising 100,000 tons of rice, 100,000 tons of iron rods, 80,000 blankets and more than 200 construction vehicles, will be delivered in 40 installments by mid-October.

“The torrential rain also left damage in South Korea, but we decided to send the flood relief to North Koreans, who face a much more dire situation,’’ said Han Wan-sang, president of the KNRC during a ceremony before the shipment. “I hope the two Koreas can find a breakthrough in the chilly inter-Korean relations through the aid program.’’

Also speaking at the ceremony, Vice Unification Minister Shin Un-sang said the humanitarian flood relief has great symbolic meaning as it was based on bipartisan support from the governing and opposition parties as well as the public.

After a meeting of Red Cross officials from the two sides at Mt. Kumgang in the North on Aug. 19, the government announced its humanitarian aid plan for the North to help repair the damage from recent flooding.

The ministry estimates the rice aid will cost some 195 billion won ($203 million); and the construction supplies and equipment, 26 billion won.

The ministry plans to use the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to match the contribution made by local private relief organizations. A 10 billion won subsidy will be given to those organizations next month.

The exact number of flood victims in the North has not been confirmed yet due to a lack of information on the reclusive state.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has reported to the National Assembly that some 900 North Koreans are dead or missing because of flooding, sources said. The number greatly differs from claims by South Korean humanitarian aid groups who say casualties have reached 10,000.

Yonhap
8/30/2006
Sam Kim

Thousands of used but clean shirts, pants and other clothes are stacked in big heaps in warehouses outside Seoul to be sent to poverty-stricken North Korea.  But they can’t be sent as they are, because North Korean officials want to get them their way: all without English writing on them and their size no bigger than “large.”

“In addition, we have color restrictions,” Ahn Jeong-hui, director of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, the donor of the clothes and other relief goods. “Strong colors could easily repulse North Koreans.”

Whenever impoverished North Korea suffers from flood and other natural or man-made disasters, sympathetic South Korean civic organizations usually respond to their appeal for emergency aid with warm hearts.

The shipment-in-waiting is for thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of North Koreans who were made homeless in massive floods in mid-July.

There were no official North Korean announcement on the extent of the flood damage but its media said “hundreds” of people were killed or missing. One South Korean relief group said “thousands” were killed.

The South Korean civilian aid is in addition to more than US$200 million worth of relief goods scheduled to be sent by the Seoul government, which include 100,000 tons each of rice and cement, 50,000 tons of reinforced steel bars and a number of trucks and other construction equipment.

With its economy in shambles, impoverished North Korea turned to international handouts in 1995 to help feed its 23 million people. U.N. relief workers said the largest floods in the country are expected to result in 100,000 tons of crop damage this year.

After years of dealing with North Korea, South Korean donors have learned that helping the communist country is not just about sending large quantities of supplies. It requires certain “customization,”

“The maximum size of clothes we send to North Korea is ‘large,'” said Hyun Il-hyun, secretary at Join Together Society, another South Korean relief agency, “We know anything bigger, like ‘extra large’ or ‘extra extra large,’ won’t fit North Koreans.”

“What will fit elementary school kids in South Korea will usually fit North Korean middle-schoolers,” she said. “Most North Korean adults will fit well into what South Korean teenagers wear.”

Chronic food shortages and malnutrition have stunted many North Koreans, making some look like dwarfs. Television footage broadcast in South Korea showed gaunt North Koreans scouring winter fields for grains left by reapers.

Nearly 8,700 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the Korean War ended in 1953, including 1,139 in 2002, 1,281 in 2003, 1,894 in 2004, 1,383 in 2005 and 1,054 in the first seven months of this year. Many complained of hunger in their communist homeland.

A 2004 survey of 2,300 North Korean defectors showed that average North Korean men and women are 5.9 centimeter and 4.1 centimeters shorter than their South Korean counterparts, respectively. An average 14-year-old boy from North Korea is up to 15.8 centimeters shorter than the same-aged South Korean.

English-embellished clothes are not welcome, either, in North Korea, relief workers said.

“We pick out any clothing that has English writing on it,” Hyun of Join Together Society said. “North Korean authorities apparently don’t want their people to think the clothes are coming from their sworn enemy, the U.S. We also restrict clothes that have the names of South Korean organizations.”

North Korea has asked them to increase shipments of rice and flour instead of instant noodles, according to South Korean relief workers.

“We will comply with the North Korean request and no longer send instant noodles,” said Ahn of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation. “I think the North’s request has do to with the South Korean marks and logos on the packings.”

According to South Korean government officials, North Korea tightly controls the flow of information among its people. All radio sets are pre-set to monitor only state broadcasts.

From the Joong Ang Daily:

Four South Korean Red Cross officials are expected to visit North Korea’s Nampo port this week to supervise the delivery of the first government aid package to help the North recover from recent flooding, an official at the Unification Ministry said yesterday.

The Red Cross officials will depart from the port of Incheon at 11 a.m. Wednesday aboard the 3,000-ton ship Trade Fortune, which sails regularly between the Koreas, according to the official.

The shipment includes 300 tons of rice, 20,000 blankets and 10,000 first aid kits, according to the official.

Seoul suspended shipments of its regular humanitarian assistance to the North shortly after Pyongyang launched seven ballistic missiles in early July, including a long-range Taepodong-2, which is believed capable of reaching the U.S. west coast.

The South Korean government says it will not make additional commitments of any economic assistance to the communist state until the North returns to stalled international negotiations with the South, Japan, China, Russia and the United States over its nuclear program.

The government, however, pledged to give 241 billion won ($251 million) worth of aid through the country’s Red Cross as one-time humanitarian assistance to the North after heavy rains there last month reportedly left hundreds of people killed or missing and thousands of others injured.

Pyongyang rejected an initial aid offer from the South Korean Red Cross last month, but its inter-Korean pro-unification organization later asked Seoul’s civic organizations and other “related offices” for rice and construction equipment, while expressing gratitude for the civic groups’ efforts to help the country recover from devastating torrential rains and flooding.

The Unification Ministry has also agreed to provide funds matching amounts raised by each civic organization, expected to total some 10 billion won.

The government’s aid through the Red Cross will include 100,000 tons of rice, 100,000 tons of iron rods, 80,000 blankets and over 200 construction vehicles.

From Yonhap:
Byun Duk-kun
8/29/2006

Four South Korean Red Cross officials are to visit North Korea’s Nampo port this week to supervise the delivery of the first government aid package to help the North recover from recent flooding, an official at the Unification Ministry said Tuesday.

The Red Cross officials are to depart from a port in the country’s western city of Incheon at 11 a.m. Wednesday aboard the 3,000-ton ship Trade Fortune, which sails regularly between the Koreas, according to the official.

“The trip is to supervise the first shipment of the Red Cross’ flood aid to North Korea,” the official said.

The shipment includes 300 tons of rice, 20,000 blankets and 10,000 first aid kits, according to the official.

Seoul suspended shipments of its regular humanitarian assistance to the North shortly after Pyongyang launched seven ballistic missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2, which is believed capable of reaching the U.S. west coast.

The South Korean government says it will not make additional commitments of any economic assistance to the communist state until the North returns to stalled international negotiations with the South, Japan, China, Russia and the United States over its nuclear ambitions.

The government, however, pledged to give 241 billion won (US$251 million) worth of aid through the country’s Red Cross in one-time humanitarian assistance to the North after heavy rains there last month reportedly left hundreds people killed or missing and thousands of others injured.

Pyongyang rejected an initial aid offer from the South Korean Red Cross last month, but its inter-Korean pro-unification organization later requested Seoul’s civic organizations and other “related offices” for rice and construction equipment, while expressing gratitude for the civilian efforts to help the country recover from the flooding.

The Unification Ministry has also agreed to provide funds matching those raised by each civilian organization, expected to total some 10 billion won.

The government’s aid through the Red Cross is to include 100,000 tons of rice, 100,000 tons of iron rods, 80,000 blankets and over 200 construction vehicles.

South Korea provided hundreds of thousands of tons of rice and fertilizer to the impoverished North annually since heavy rains and a nationwide famine in the mid-1990s left over 2 million North Koreans dead and millions of others displaced.

North Korea requested the South to give half a million tons of rice for the year before it launched the seven missiles into the East Sea on July 5.

Government officials say the country will not consider accepting the North’s request until the North agrees to return to the international nuclear negotiations, which have stalled since November due to Pyongyang’s boycott, as well as resumes its self-imposed moratorium on missile tests.

The Koreas remain divided along a heavily-fortified border since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with a cease-fire.

Korea Times
Lee Jin-woo
8/23/2006

The Ministry of Unification will begin providing financial support to South Korean humanitarian aid groups, which have sent, or have plans to send, flood relief materials for North Korean victims beginning early next month.

“The ministry plans to use the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to meet the amount of contribution made by local private relief organizations under a matching fund system,” said a ministry official. “Up to 10 billion won ($10.5 million) will be subsidized for those civic groups beginning early next month.”

Once the group of those 23 South Korean organizations-which have sent or considered sending flood relief material to the communist state-submits a list of purchased aid goods, the ministry will reimburse half of the total costs, he said.

“In order to find out what North Korean victims need most urgently, we will have a working-level meeting with North Korean counterparts on Aug. 31,’’ said Shin Myung-chul, an official belonging to the group. He added civic groups are likely to purchase mostly flour and clothes as well as other necessities, but will exclude rice and other emergency relief supplies to be provided by the government through the South’s Korean National Red Cross (KNRC).

After a meeting between Red Cross officials from South and North Korea at Mt. Kumgang in the North on Saturday, the ministry announced its plan to send 100,000 tons of rice, and construction supplies and equipment to North Korea by the end of this month to help repair damages from recent flooding despite chilly inter-Korean relations after the North’s July 5 missile launches.

Vice Unification Minister Shin Un-sang told reporters on Sunday the rice aid would cost some 195 billion won ($203 million), and the shipment would also include some 26 billion won worth of construction supplies and equipment, including 100,000 tons of cement, 5,000 tons of steel and 100 trucks.

But the ministry has made it clear that the one-time aid package is unrelated to government’s periodic aid provided annually to the North that has been abruptly halted due to the missile threat.

BBC
8/18/2006

The UN food agency says North Korea has agreed to accept emergency food aid in the wake of heavy flooding in July.

The decision is a reversal for Pyongyang, which said previously that it did not need international help and could manage by itself.

North Korea was hit by torrential rains and high winds last month.

Official media said the severe weather killed hundreds of people and left thousands homeless, as well as damaging large tracts of agricultural land.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement that it would supply 150 metric tons of food to feed 13,000 residents in South Phyongan province, 80km (50 miles) east of the capital.

North Korea also agreed on Thursday to send its Red Cross officials to meet counterparts in South Korea on Saturday to discuss food and reconstruction aid.

The moves come amid differing reports on the scale of the flood damage in the North.

North Korean news agency KCNA said that “hundreds” died, while a pro-Pyongyang Japan-based daily put the toll at 549.

One activist group in Seoul has suggested the number of casualties is well into the thousands, but aid officials have played this down.

North Korea is secretive about releasing details of accidents or natural disasters, making any confirmation of the extent of the flooding difficult.

But Pyongyang has cancelled a mass gymnastics display, called Arirang, which is a key source of income for the nation, to focus, it says, on recovering from the floods.

North Korea is already reliant on foreign donations to feed its people.

The WFP began working in the country in the mid 1990s, after about two million people died from famine.

From the New York Times:
8/17/2006

Floods Claim Huge Toll in North Korea, Group Says
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEOUL, South Korea- A South Korean aid group said Wednesday that 54,700 people were dead or missing after huge floods in North Korea last month and that as many as 2.5 million people had been left homeless.

The figure is by far the highest toll reported from floods that hit North Korea in mid-July.

The private aid agency Good Friends, based in Seoul, said it had “many sources” inside North Korea but did not say where it had obtained the information. The toll could not be independently confirmed because North Korea tightly controls the news media and information.

The aid group’s previous reports on activities inside North Korea have been confirmed by South Korean government sources, although some of its figures have been disputed.

North Korea’s official news media have reported that “hundreds” were killed by the floods, without giving specific numbers.

The Choson Sinbo, a newspaper published in Japan by a pro-North Korean association linked to the government, said this month that the floods had killed at least 549 people and that 295 more were missing.

Officials with South Korea’s Red Cross, the South Korean Unification Ministry, North Korea’s economic cooperation office in Beijing and other agencies could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Representatives of Good Friends refused to elaborate on their report, saying they feared their sources would face reprisals.

The group said the floods had destroyed more than 230 bridges and inundated hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, further straining North Korea’s ability to feed its population. North Korea has relied on foreign food donations since the mid-1990’s, when famine caused by natural disasters and decades of mismanagement is believed to have killed up to two million people.

“Food prices are skyrocketing as food distribution has become nearly impossible” as a result of the floods, the aid group said.

The group also contended that North Korea, to curb possible unrest, prevented those left homeless by the floods from traveling.

A South Korean citizens’ group said last week that North Korea had requested help from South Korea to cope with the devastation from the floods.

From Yonhap:

Flood damage in N. Korea seems lesser than previously estimated:official
8/10/2006

Recent floods in impoverished North Korea resulted in a loss of large amounts of food, but the loss may not be as great as previously estimated by domestic and international relief agencies, a government official said Thursday.

The claim comes amid efforts by South Korea’s pro-unification and other civic organizations to put together large amounts of emergency relief aid for flood victims in the North.

International relief agencies working with the communist state, such as the World Food Program and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Crescent Societies, had previously estimated that some 30,000 hectares of farmland was either submerged or destroyed due to last month’s heavy rains in the North, leading to the loss of some 100,000 tons of food.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government, too, depends on the reports, or estimates, by the international agencies to estimate damage in the North, but said a thorough analysis of the reports showed a significantly smaller loss of food than estimated.

“(The government) believes damage to 20,000 to 30,000 hectares of arable land in the North would lead to the loss of some 32,000 tons of crops,” the official said.

The official said the discrepancy comes because the international organizations assumed the worst.

“I believe the WFP’s estimate was based on an assumption that no crops would be produced from any of the affected farmland,” the official said.

“A close analysis and consultation with experts showed the North’s loss of food would come to about 30 percent of the WFP estimate,” the official added.

The new estimate, or claim, by the government is expected to affect the South’s expected decision on the size and composition of its assistance for the flood-hit North as the government continues to suspend its regular aid for the communist state.

Seoul suspended its humanitarian aid for the communist North, which includes rice and fertilizer, shortly after Pyongyang test-fired seven mid- and long-range missiles into the East Sea on July 5.

Officials at the Unification Ministry say the government is unlikely to remove or loosen its suspension of rice and fertilizer shipments to the North until the latter returns to international negotiations over its nuclear weapons program and announces resumption of its self-imposed moratorium on missile tests.

Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, Seoul’s highest official on North Korea, held a meeting with the head of the country’s National Red Cross on Thursday to discuss a possible inclusion of food, mainly rice, in a Red Cross aid package for the North.

Ministry officials said the provision of rice, if made, would only be a one-time assistance to help relieve the suffering of flood victims and will not lead to a resumption of regular aid shipments.  

From the BBC:

North Korea flooding ‘kills 549′
8/7/2006

At least 549 people died and another 295 are still missing as a result of floods which struck North Korea last month, a pro-Pyongyang daily said.

ays of heavy rain caused flooding which North Korean media have already confirmed led to “hundreds” of deaths.

But the figures, from the Japan-based daily, are the most specific released so far on the extent of the disaster.

Last month, the UN food agency estimated that about 60,000 people had been left homeless by the flooding.

The Choson Shinbo newspaper is based in Japan and is run by a pro-North Korea association.

Over 7,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, the daily said, and almost 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) of farmland had been washed away.

“Recovery efforts are proceeding at rapid speed as relief supplies are being sent to the afflicted areas,” the daily said on its web site.

Secretive

In South Korea, opposition Grand National Party leader Kang Jae-sup urged that a fact-finding mission be sent to the North to determine the full extent of the damage there, Yonhap news agency reported.

One activists’ group has suggested that the number of dead or missing is as high as 10,000, but has not said where it obtained the information.

North Korea is secretive about releasing details of accidents or natural disasters, making any confirmation of the extent of the flooding difficult.

But Pyongyang has cancelled a mass gymnastics display, called Arirang, which is a key source of income for the nation, to focus, it says, on recovering from the floods.

North Korea has refused offers from international agencies to launch appeals on its behalf, but an official said last week that Pyongyang would accept aid from the South if it came with no strings attached.

South Korea has suspended food aid to the North because of concerns over deadlocked talks on its nuclear programme and Pyongyang’s recent missile tests.

From the Associated Press

Up to 10,000 casualties in North Korea flooding: aid group
8/2/2006

Up to 10,000 North Koreans are believed dead or missing in what Pyongyang’s official media is describing as the worst flooding in a century, a respected South Korean humanitarian group said.

“About 4,000 people are now listed as missing, and we expect the final toll of dead and missing to reach 10,000,” said the independent aid group Good Friends.

North Korea’s official media has so far admitted that hundreds of people were dead or missing after the country was battered by heavy rainfall for nearly two weeks from July 10.

Seoul-based Good Friends said the media was now terming the flooding as the worst to hit the impoverished country in a century.

From Yonhap:

Swiss aid for North Korea totals US$4.2 million last year

Switzerland gave over 5.2 million Swiss francs (US$4.2 million) worth of relief aid to North Korea in 2005, a U.S. radio station reported Thursday.

The Washington-based Radio Free Asia based its report on documents from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.

Agriculture was the top priority in the Swiss aid, with about 1.7 million francs spent only on the extermination of vermin and the introduction of new breeds, the report said.

The two Swiss government agencies said the rest of the money went to non-agriculture sectors, including 900,000 francs for administrative management, 300,000 francs for social overhead capital facilities, 1.1 million francs for economic development, 700,000 francs for humanitarian aid and 500,000 francs for others, it said.

With its economy in tatters, North Korea has been relying on international handouts since the mid-1990s to help feed its 23 million people.

from Yonhap:

More S. Korean relief goods head to flood-hit N. Korea

A freighter left for North Korea Wednesday with tons of flour, instant noodles and other relief goods for flood victims in North Korea, South Korean aid groups said.

The total value of the shipment was not officially disclosed, but the donations included 60 tons of flour, 1,300 boxes of instant noodles and medical supplies, they said.

The shipment, the third of its kind since early this month, comes as the South Korean government, through its Red Cross, is planning large-scale relief aid for North Korea which suffered heavy human losses and property damages in rain-caused floods in mid-July.

There has been no official North Korean announcement on its rain damages but international workers there reported that several hundred people were killed or missing. Crop damages are expected to be 100,000 tons, they said.

South Korean aid workers said their shipment Wednesday will arrive at the North’s western port of Nampo in a day or two.

They said they were planning more shipment in the near future.

Donors for Wednesday’s shipment included the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, the Korean Foundation for World Aid and the Council of Civic Groups for North Korean Aid.

Angered by North Korea’s defiant missile launches on July 5, South Korea has officially stopped food aid for its impoverished communist neighbor but it has recently relented, saying that it could contribute to civilian relief activities.

South Korean Red Cross officials have indicated that their planned aid package would include 100,000 tons of rice and an unspecified amount of construction equipment.

Concerns have risen over the possibility of a new famine in North Korea like the one that hit the country in the 1990s, which reportedly left millions of people dead.     

North Welcomes Aid
Korea Times 
8/4/2006

North Korea’s Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Committee took a positive stance yesterday toward accepting humanitarian aid from South Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported.

“There’s no reason for us to reject flood relief from the South as long as it’s not politically motivated,” Kim Song-won, head of the committee said from Dandong, China.

The remark is the first positive comment from a North Korean official on flood relief from the South amid chilly inter-Korean relations following last month’s missile threats.

Hyundai to Deliver Aid for NK Flood Victims
Korea Times
8.8.2006

Hyundai Asan, a South Korean company in charge of North Korean business projects, said Tuesday it will send relief goods to victims of flooding near a scenic mountain on the southeastern coast of the communist country.

From Wednesday to Saturday, Hyundai Asan will deliver 500 tons of cement and 200 tons of flour, worth about 100 million won ($104,000), by trucks across the inter-Korean border for North Korean victims in the inner part of Mount Kumgang, the company said. It would be the second relief delivery from South Korea after North Korea was devastated by torrential rains late last month.

On Monday, a pro-North Korea newspaper in Japan, the Chosun Sinbo, reported at least 549 North Koreans were killed and 295 others missing, hit by floods last month.

The casualty figures were seen as the highest so far in North Korea, one of the world’s most isolated nations. y

North wants aid, just not those noodles
Joong Ang Daily
8/10/2006
 
August 10, 2006 ㅡ North Korea formally asked South Korean civic groups for humanitarian aid for its flood victims ― but it doesn’t want instant noodles.

The country said it does want construction materials, construction equipment, blankets and medicine, according to a fax sent from the communist country to a South Korean civic group. The message was the first formal request from the North seeking aid. The North Korean Committee for Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration sent the message to its South Korean counterpart yesterday, thanking the civic groups here for helping the North’s flood victims. In the message, North Korea specified what they prefer to be included in the aid package. Instant noodles and clothes were singled out as less-wanted items.

The South Korean committee will meet with its North Korean counterpart tomorrow at the Mount Kumgang resort to further discuss assistance. The South Korean committee has launched a fundraising drive for North Korean flood victims. Aid packages by some civic groups have already been sent to the North, and more were on their way yesterday from Incheon.

Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok is scheduled to meet today with Han Wan-sang, South Korea’s Red Cross chief, to discuss the government’s flood relief program for the North. Floor leaders of the five political parties will also meet today to discuss the aid to the North. 

Government to give aid, rice, to the North
Joong Ang Daily
8/11/2006

After consultation with the South Korean Red Cross, the government has agreed to provide an aid package including rice to help North Korean flood victims, a Unification Ministry official said yesterday. The government will announce today its official participation in an emergency relief program for the North, led by the Red Cross and civic groups here.

After the North fired seven missiles last month, the South withheld its previously promised rice and fertilizer aid in protest.

In his meeting with Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, South Korea’s Red Cross president, Han Wan-sang, asked the government to help send goods to benefit North Korean flood victims. Mr. Han said rice and construction materials are such items. Mr. Lee agreed to that proposal.

The government and the Red Cross will discuss further the shipment schedule and amount of aid.

Mr. Han was quoted by Yonhap News Agency yesterday as saying the aid package will be prepared by the end of next week.

Floor leaders of political parties, including the conservative Grand Nationals, also met yesterday to discuss the need for humanitarian aid to the North. They encouraged the government to send food, medicines and construction materials. A Grand National Party spokesman said that the food aid should include rice, although strict monitoring should follow to make sure the grain is provided to flood victims in urgent need.

The governing and ruling parties also agreed to approve a supplementary budget for the aid if necessary.

Seoul offers W10b in aid to N. Korea
Korea Herald
8/12/2006

South Korea will contribute 10 billion won ($10.5 million) to civilian relief efforts for flood-hit North Korea, an official said yesterday.

The contribution is part of an aid package that Seoul plans to give to the North, reversing an earlier decision to suspend aid in protest against the North’s missile launches last month.

Besides the contribution, the South also plans to ship official aid supplies to the North via the Red Cross.

The decision came at a policy coordination meeting between the government and the governing Uri Party, which was attended by Seoul’s point man on North Korean affairs, Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, as well as Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook.

Earlier this week, North Korea asked for help from the South to recover from devastating floods in mid-July that left at least 549 people dead and 295 missing.

The North had previously refused South Korean aid from the Red Cross, saying it would take care of the problem itself.

The Unification Ministry is to allocate the money from its inter-Korean cooperation fund, which will be used to match the funds raised by each civic organization, the ruling party official said.

A ministry official said civic organizations have so far raised over 9.8 billion won in funds and goods. Other ministry officials said the fund will be used to purchase emergency relief aid, such as rice, flour, medicine and equipment.

The government held a meeting with civic organizations yesterday to decide on the size of its support for each civic organization.

The ministry and the South Korean Red Cross agreed Thursday to provide large amounts of assistance, mainly rice, that would be “substantial enough” to help flood-hit North Korea, according to Red Cross chief Han Wan-sang.

Rep. Noh Woong-rae, a vice floor leader of the ruling Uri Party, hinted Friday that the Red Cross aid may amount to more than 70 billion won worth of goods.

“(The government) gave 70 billion won worth of support (to the North) through its Red Cross when the Ryongchon incident” took place, Noh said, referring to an explosion at a train station in a North Korean town bordering China in April 2004, which left over 160 people killed and thousands injured.

“This (the previous amount) would be considered in determining the size of its aid, but the fact that the size of the (flood-affected) area is so large this time will be considered,” he said.

South Korea has been cautious in providing assistance to the North because of its no-aid pledge over the missile crisis.

But growing public calls for aid to the North have emboldened the government. The country’s main opposition party, which has been skeptical of aid provisions to the communist state, has also been supportive of emergency aid to the North.

The aid decision boosted hopes for an improvement in inter-Korean relations, which chilled after North Korea strongly protested Seoul’s decision to halt rice and fertilizer supplies until the North resolves concerns over its missile and nuclear programs.

North Korea is one of the poorest countries in the world after natural disasters and mismanagement devastated its economy in the mid-1990s. The country relies on foreign assistance to feed its 23 million people.