Relief Supplies to be Sent By Sea, Scheduled to Arrive On Thursday

South Korea and North Korea will open a working-level conference in a hotel in Gaeseong on Tuesday to discuss plans for distributing relief aid to the victims of the Yongcheon station explosion in North Korea’s North Pyongyang province. It will be the second time in 20 years that North and South Korea have held a relief aid conference. The last time both Koreas worked together to cope with a natural calamity or big accident was 1984, when the North lent assistance to help flood victims in the South.

Hong Jae-hyung, director general for social and cultural exchanges with North Korea at the South Korean Unification Ministry revealed conference information in a briefing on Monday and said that the North Korean Red Cross delivered their “appreciation for South Korea’s relief aid offer” through a telephone call prior to the contact between liaison officials in Panmunjeom on Monday afternoon.

Director General Hong also said, “The North asked that emergency relief goods be delivered by sea to the port of Nampo, rather than overland. We will fully comply with the North’s request.”

The South Korean Red Cross will deliver 3,000 emergency medical kits, 100,000 packages of instant noodles, 10,000 bottles of spring water, 3,000 blankets, 3,000 items of clothing, 72 types of emergency medicines and other relief supplies worth a total of 800,000 dollars aboard a ship that will leave on the morning of April 29 from the port of Incheon.

The supplies from South will arrive at the North Korean port of Nampo on the morning of April 30 and barring delays, will be delivered to Yongcheon city by that evening.

Meanwhile, the Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee will hold a meeting on Tuesday afternoon with Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun present and will hear his reports on actual conditions at Yongcheon after the disaster and the government’s plans for aiding the North.

Seung-Ryun Kim srkim@donga.com