U.S. gov't aid arrives in N. Korea

By Lee Chi-dong
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (Yonhap) -- A cargo plane filled with relief aid materials funded by the U.S. government arrived in North Korea over the weekend, officials here said Sunday.
The Barack Obama administration earlier said it would provide the flood-hit country with emergency humanitarian assistance worth US$900,000.
"U.S. government assistance will consist solely of emergency relief supplies, such as blankets, soap and hygiene kits," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
She added the supplies were delivered through the North Carolina-based non-governmental organization Samaritan's Purse.
The Christian group also confirmed that it has airlifted emergency aid to North Korea. It said it is adding $1.2 million of aid to the U.S. government's assistance.
About 100 tons of aid materials arrived in Pyongyang Saturday evening, it said.
"I want the North Koreans to know that there is a God who loves them," Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham said in a statement posted on the group's Web site.
"I'm very pleased that the United States government is separating political differences from humanitarian need," Graham said. "People are people. God made and created each and every one of us. The Bible teaches us that those who have much should share with those who have little.
Heavy rains this summer have caused flash floods in the communist nation, which lacks infrastructure, leaving dozens of people dead and thousands of others displaced.