SEOUL: South Korea said on Friday (Aug 2) that it has received no response after trying to contact North Korea to offer humanitarian aid following reports of deaths and heavy damage caused by recent flooding.
Seoul’s unification ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it was willing to “urgently provide” humanitarian assistance to “North Korean disaster victims” impacted by the downpours.
The ministry attempted to contact the North to make an offer of aid via the Koreas’ liaison office communication channel, but Pyongyang has not responded, Seoul said on Friday.
“We will not make assumptions about the situation and look forward to a prompt response (from North Korea) to our proposal,” Kim In-ae, the deputy spokesperson for the ministry, told reporters.
North Korea earlier this week said a “record downpour” hit its northern border areas near China on Jul 27, resulting in “a grave crisis in which more than 5,000 inhabitants were isolated in the zone vulnerable to flooding”.
On Wednesday, Pyongyang said many “public buildings, facilities, roads and railways, including more than 4,100 dwelling houses and nearly 3,000ha of farmlands” were flooded in its northern regions of Sinuiju and Uiju.
On the same day, North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un “proposed to strictly punish” officials who neglected their disaster prevention duties, which had caused unspecified deaths or injuries “that can not be allowed”.
A report by South Korea’s TV Chosun also said hundreds of people could have been killed.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66b07a8ba5e44f4086205ab6b13e212c&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.channelnewsasia.com%2Feast-asia%2Fsouth-korea-no-response-north-flood-relief-offer-4522376&c=3118567573802606246&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-08-01 21:46:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.