S. Korea's Red Cross offers flood relief aid to N. Korea

SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Red Cross said Wednesday that it offered a massive amount of humanitarian aid to North Korea to help it recover from recent deadly floods, a move that could help improve ties between the two Koreas after months of tension over Pyongyang's provocations. The Red Cross said in a message to its North Korean counterpart earlier Wednesday that it plans to send medical supplies and other necessities worth 5 billion won (US$4.7 million) through the heavily fortified border. The Red Cross said in the message that it "decided to provide the relief supplies to the North Korean people on humanitarian grounds," according to an official handling the case. He asked not to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to media. North Korea's state media did not immediately report on South Korea's aid offer. The aid offer came two days after the North said a recent powerful typhoon and heavy downpours have left dozens of people dead, injured or missing while destroying 2,900 homes across the country. It said the flooding submerged or washed away nearly 60,000 hectares of farmland, which analysts said could threaten the already fragile food security situation in the affected regions. On Tuesday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on its Web site that it allocated more than US$590,000 to help more than 15,000 homeless or displaced people over the next six months. North Korea has been hit hard by floods in recent years, mainly because of its lack of investment in disaster control and severe deforestation. Last year, a massive flood swept through the North Korean city of Sinuiju on the border with China, inundating thousands of houses and a vast tract of farmland while killing 14 people, according to North Korea's media and international relief agencies. In 2007, North Korea was hit by the heaviest rainfall in 40 years, leaving some 600 people dead or missing and about 100,000 people homeless.