Energy News  
North Korea seeks aid from South despite chills over missile tests

by Staff Writers
Seoul, Aug 9, 2006
North Korea has for the first time appealed to South Korean groups for help in recovering from devastating floods despite chills in relations caused by its missile tests last month, aid officials said.

The North Korean Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Declaration -- named after the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000 -- expressed its gratitude for South Koreans' efforts to help flood victims.

"We hope that the relief aid, instead of instant noodles or clothing, should be mainly composed of construction materials such as cement and steel, construction vehicles as well as food, blankets and medicines," the committee said.

"We request your side to inform other groups (of what we want)."

The request was contained in a letter faxed to the committee's South Korean counterpart.

The committee also thanked its southern counterpart and other South Korean civilian groups "for their efforts to help overcome the losses inflicted by the heavy rains."

It was the first time the communist state had asked for help from South Korea since last month's heavy rain. Up to 10,000 people are dead or missing, according to South Korean aid group Good Friends.

The North had rejected an aid offer from the South's Red Cross after Seoul suspended official government assistance in a dispute over the missile tests.

Lee Jae-Gyu, spokesman for the South's committee, said it was noteworthy that Pyongyang made a public appeal for aid from the South despite chills in ties caused by the North's missile tests and drive for nuclear weapons.

"Pyongyang knows well that it is beyond the means of private aid groups to meet such demands for construction vehicles and materials. This is an indirect appeal for assistance and help from the government and business firms," he said.

He said the head of the South's committee, Paik Nak-Chung, would urge the government to resume its aid when he meets Unification Minister Lee Jong-Seok later Wednesday.

"Minister Lee and other ministry officials have been meeting with NGOs to listen to public opinions about the issue of government aid to the North," a senior ministry official told AFP.

South Korea's government on July 8 indefinitely postponed crucial food and fertilizer aid to the North in response to its missile tests three days earlier.

It shelved 100,000 tonnes of fertilizer aid and 500,000 tonnes of rice aid pending any breakthrough on the missile issue.

Last week a Seoul-based Buddhist relief agency sent flour, instant noodles and clothing -- the first shipment of emergency aid from South Korea to the North since the flooding.

Serious floods helped cause a famine in the mid-1990s in which aid groups say some two million North Koreans died.

The country still cannot afford to feed its 23 million people. Damage to farmland from the latest flooding has sparked concerns that chronic food shortages may worsen again this year.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


North Korean leader disappears amid missile tension
Seoul, Aug 8, 2006
North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-Il has disappeared from public view since the communist country test-fired missiles a month ago in defiance of international opposition.







  • DOE To Invest $250 Million In New Bioenergy Centers
  • Hybrid Solar Lighting Making Progress
  • BP Pipeline Leak Closes Down Biggest US Oilfield
  • Korean Scientist Makes Crude Oil Into Fuel

  • New Check On Nuke Power
  • Swedish nuclear sector out of danger, but political fallout lingers
  • US Says New Pakistani Nuclear Reactor Not Very Powerful
  • Nuclear Plant Faced Possible Meltdown In Sweden

  • NASA Experiment Finds Possible Trigger For Radio-Busting Bubbles
  • California's Model Skies
  • ESA Picks SSTL To Develop Atmospheric CO2 Detector
  • Faster Atmospheric Warming In Subtropics Pushes Jet Streams Toward Poles

  • Papua Logging Industry Riddled With Corruption, Rights Abuses: Report
  • Small-Scale Logging Leads To Clear-Cutting In Brazilian Amazon
  • Debate Continues On Post-Wildfire Logging, Forest Regeneration
  • Malaysia And Indonesia Join Forces To Dampen Haze Problem

  • Food-Crop Yields In Future Greenhouse-Gas Conditions Lower Than Expected
  • Acid rain in China threatening food chain
  • Farmland shrinkage in China threatens grain production
  • Brownfields May Turn Green With Help From Michigan State Research

  • Toyota To Expand Hybrid Car Range In US
  • Ford First To Offer Clean-Burning Hydrogen Vehicles
  • Smart Cars To Rule The Roads
  • Nano Replacement For Petroleum

  • US Sanctions On Russia Could Hurt Boeing
  • Boeing Puts Aircraft Market At 2.6 Trillion Dollars
  • Innovative Solutions Make Transportation Systems Safer Secure and Efficient
  • Joint Strike Fighter Is Not Flawed Finds Australian Government

  • Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear
  • NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter
  • Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission
  • Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement