NKorea Asks SKorea for Flood Aid       09/07 05:26

   North Korea requested a shipment of rice, cement and heavy equipment days 
after rival South Korea offered relief aid to its communist neighbor to help it 
recover from recent flooding, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Tuesday.

   SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea requested a shipment of rice, cement 
and heavy equipment days after rival South Korea offered relief aid to its 
communist neighbor to help it recover from recent flooding, Seoul's Unification 
Ministry said Tuesday.

   Word of the communication between the two Koreas on aid came a day after the 
North announced it would release the crew of a seized South Korean fishing 
boat, in a sign that the divided countries may be talking behind the scenes in 
what could lead to a resumption of formal talks.

   Tensions between the two countries, which are still technically in a state 
of war, have been exceptionally high in recent months following the sinking of 
a South Korean warship that Seoul blamed on Pyongyang. North Korea denies the 
charge and has threatened retaliation if it is punished.

   But South Korea has in the past served as a lifeline to the desperately poor 
North, which struggles to feed many of its 24 million people in the best of 
times.

   An overflowing river last month swamped farmland, houses and public 
buildings in the North's northwestern city of Sinuiju and adjacent areas. State 
media reported that the region was "severely affected" by the flooding, though 
details of the damage remain unknown. North Korea observers fear the flooding 
has worsened the country's chronic food shortages.

   Last week, South Korea's Red Cross sent a message to its North Korean 
counterpart and proposed sending medicine, daily necessities and emergency food 
worth 10 billion won ($8.5 million).

   The North's Red Cross replied on Saturday that it would prefer rice, cement 
and heavy equipment --- items it said were necessary for flood recovery 
efforts, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry and Red Cross.

   South Korea was reviewing the North's request, the Unification Ministry said 
in a statement Tuesday. North Korea's secretive communist regime has not 
confirmed making the request and its state-run media have not mentioned it.

   Red Cross official Kim Sung-keun said the bulk of the aid, if sent, would be 
financed by the South Korean government.

   The aid offer came despite continuing tension over March's deadly sinking. 
In retaliation, South Korea cut off nearly all trade with North Korea but has 
continued shipping humanitarian aid for the vulnerable, including infants and 
pregnant women.

   On Monday, North Korea also announced it would free a seven-man crew of a 
South Korean fishing boat seized a month ago in its waters, calling it a 
"humanitarian" gesture.

   An analyst said the North is believed to have decided to release the 
fishermen in return for South Korea's aid offer.

   "I believe this is the results of informal contacts between the two Koreas," 
said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the Seoul-based University of North Korean 
Studies. The latest development may foster a "positive atmosphere" for the 
resumption of formal talks between the two Koreas, he said.

   The Unification Ministry, however, said Tuesday there were no negotiations 
with North Korea over the fishermen. Spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said that South 
Korea's aid offer and the fishermen's release were "separate matters."

   The four South Korean and three Chinese fisherman and their vessel would be 
enter the South at the Koreas' eastern sea border on Tuesday afternoon, 
officials said. They were taken into custody on Aug. 8 and accused of fishing 
illegally in North Korea's exclusive economic zone off the east coast of the 
divided Korean peninsula.

   Earlier Tuesday, President Lee Myung-bak said that he hopes to improve 
relations with the North.

   "The Red Cross is preparing to make a humanitarian aid and that is one step 
forward" in inter-Korean ties, Lee told ruling party leaders during a regular 
meeting, according to Lee's office.

   North Korea has relied on foreign food aid since natural disasters and 
mismanagement devastated its economy in the mid-1990s and led to a famine 
estimated to have killed as many as 2 million people.

   The two Koreas officially remain at war because their 1950-53 Korean War 
ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. Their ties turned sour after Lee 
took office in 2008 with a tough policy on the North.


(KA)