North Korea Asks Material Aid In Response to South Korea''s Offer

Flood-stricken North Korea asked South Korea to provide food, cement and heavy construction equipment on Thursday, a day after Seoul offered 5 billion won (US$4.7 million) in emergency relief to its northern neighbour, South Korean News Agency (Yonhap) said quoting an official. South Korea immediately turned down the North''s request, replying to the North that it would only send medical supplies and other necessities, including blankets and packs of instant noodles, said the official of the Unification Ministry handling inter-Korean affairs. "We are not considering sending rice, flour and cement," to North Korea, he told reporters. North''s request was contained in a message from the country''s Red Cross to its South Korean counterpart which was delivered through the border village of Panmunjom, said the official. He voiced hope that the two Koreas will be able to quickly conclude consultations on the proposed aid, the first of its kind since the North''s deadly military attack on a South Korean island in November. North Korea has said through its state media that a recent powerful typhoon and heavy downpours have left dozens of people dead, injured or missing while destroying 2,900 homes and submerging or washing away nearly 60,000 hectares of farmland. North Korea has been hit hard by floods in recent years, mainly because of its lack of investment in disaster control and severe deforestation. Last year, Seoul sent 5,000 tons of rice, three million packs of instant noodles and 3,000 tons of cement to North Korea to help it recover from devastating floods. It stopped sending more after the island attack that killed two soldiers and two civilians. The attack further aggravated inter-Korean ties that were already badly strained over the sinking early last year of a South Korean warship blamed on the North. Forty-six South Korean sailors were killed, the South Korean news agency said. South Korea has since imposed sanctions on the North, though it has selectively approved humanitarian and medical assistance to the communist country.