ID :
94328
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 20:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/94328
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea to provide 500,000 doses of H1N1 drug to N. Korea
(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead, UPDATES with minister's remarks on amount of aid)
SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will provide 500,000 doses of Tamiflu and
other anti-viral drugs to North Korea to help stem an Influenza A outbreak there,
the unification minister said Thursday, following Pyongyang's prompt acceptance
of the offer.
The medical aid will be the first outside help to reach the communist nation
since it admitted Wednesday that there has been a flu outbreak.
"We will provide North Korea with enough doses of Tamiflu and other new flu drugs
for 500,000 people," the minister in charge of inter-Korean relations, Hyun
In-taek, said in a parliamentary budget meeting.
South Korea can provide more if the flu outbreak is exacerbated, he said, when
asked by a lawmaker about the scope of aid.
In May, North Korea, along with 70 other underdeveloped nations, received an
emergency stockpile of 35,000 doses of anti-viral drugs from the World Health
Organization. Seoul officials say North Korea needs millions of doses to
safeguard its population of 24 million.
President Lee Myung-bak ordered his government to provide "unconditional" flu aid
for the North before it confirmed nine domestic cases of the H1N1 influenza.
Seoul officials said they relayed a message offering aid through "indirect
channels" two days earlier.
"A North Korean liaison officer told us by telephone that it (North Korea) would
accept the aid," ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said earlier Thursday.
The provision of drugs will mark the first humanitarian aid from the current
Seoul administration to the North, as well as the first government-level aid
since President Lee took office last year. North Korea has yet to accept 10,000
tons of corn aid offered in October, apparently disgruntled by the small scale of
the assistance and preconditions Seoul attached to it.
"We are hoping for the delivery to be made as soon as possible after agreeing on
the terms of the delivery with North Korea," Chun said.
Outside watchers believe the flu outbreak will weigh heavily on the impoverished
North, which is already reeling from a surprise currency change last week and
international financial sanctions imposed after its nuclear test in the spring.
The flu aid may possibly act as a catalyst to improve inter-Korean relations,
they predict.
The South Korean government currently has some 6 million doses of Tamiflu and
other anti-viral drugs stockpiled, and plans to increase the amount to 8.2
million within this month. It downgraded its flu alert to "orange," the
second-highest level, as the spread of the virus has recently slowed and the
death toll remains stable at 117.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will provide 500,000 doses of Tamiflu and
other anti-viral drugs to North Korea to help stem an Influenza A outbreak there,
the unification minister said Thursday, following Pyongyang's prompt acceptance
of the offer.
The medical aid will be the first outside help to reach the communist nation
since it admitted Wednesday that there has been a flu outbreak.
"We will provide North Korea with enough doses of Tamiflu and other new flu drugs
for 500,000 people," the minister in charge of inter-Korean relations, Hyun
In-taek, said in a parliamentary budget meeting.
South Korea can provide more if the flu outbreak is exacerbated, he said, when
asked by a lawmaker about the scope of aid.
In May, North Korea, along with 70 other underdeveloped nations, received an
emergency stockpile of 35,000 doses of anti-viral drugs from the World Health
Organization. Seoul officials say North Korea needs millions of doses to
safeguard its population of 24 million.
President Lee Myung-bak ordered his government to provide "unconditional" flu aid
for the North before it confirmed nine domestic cases of the H1N1 influenza.
Seoul officials said they relayed a message offering aid through "indirect
channels" two days earlier.
"A North Korean liaison officer told us by telephone that it (North Korea) would
accept the aid," ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said earlier Thursday.
The provision of drugs will mark the first humanitarian aid from the current
Seoul administration to the North, as well as the first government-level aid
since President Lee took office last year. North Korea has yet to accept 10,000
tons of corn aid offered in October, apparently disgruntled by the small scale of
the assistance and preconditions Seoul attached to it.
"We are hoping for the delivery to be made as soon as possible after agreeing on
the terms of the delivery with North Korea," Chun said.
Outside watchers believe the flu outbreak will weigh heavily on the impoverished
North, which is already reeling from a surprise currency change last week and
international financial sanctions imposed after its nuclear test in the spring.
The flu aid may possibly act as a catalyst to improve inter-Korean relations,
they predict.
The South Korean government currently has some 6 million doses of Tamiflu and
other anti-viral drugs stockpiled, and plans to increase the amount to 8.2
million within this month. It downgraded its flu alert to "orange," the
second-highest level, as the spread of the virus has recently slowed and the
death toll remains stable at 117.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
