| The government announced Sunday that it will assist North Korea with emergency relief supplies including 100,000 tons of homegrown rice, 100,000 tons of cement, 5,000 tons of reinforcing rods, 100 dump trucks, 50 excavators, as well as 800,000 blankets, 10,000 first aid kit, and medicines to help recover from the flood damage starting from the end of this month.
A total of 221 billion won is required to purchase, polish, pack, and send the rice (1.74 million won per ton) and other restoration equipment and relief supplies (26 billion won). The money will come from the South-North Cooperation Fund (40 billion won) and the Grain Management Special Account (155 billion won).
Earlier on August 11, the government announced that it would assist civil organizations according to the scale of civil organizations’ assistance within 10 billion won through the ‘matching fund’ method. The total amount of assistance, therefore, is expected to amount to 230 billion won.
The amount of assistance is three times the assistance provided to the North in April 2004, when there was an explosion at Yongchon Station in North Pyongan Province.
A government official said, “The World Food Program (WFP) and other special agencies estimated that the crop yield of the North will decrease by 100,000 tons due to the flood, which is why we decided to ship 100,000 tons of rice. This is separate from the government`s rice aid provided as loans, which has been stopped due to the missile test launches of the North.”
For the most part of the excavators and other restoration equipments, the government decided to provide secondhand machines, given that it takes too long a time to purchase new products.
Vice Unification Minister Shin Un-sang said at a press briefing, “North Korea said at the working level conference of the South-North Red Cross in Geumgang Mountain Saturday that they witnessed ‘extensive flood damage in 14 big and small cities in four provinces, including South Pyongan and North Hwanghae provinces.’”
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