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.
