North Korea agrees to consult over aid

North Korea has accepted Seoul’s offer to discuss the provision of aid to the flood-stricken state, officials said Monday.

Pyongyang contacted the South through Red Cross channels earlier in the day asking that Seoul specify the type and quantity of the proposed aid.

“The North said they want to engage in further discussion including through the exchange of documents,” the official said on condition of anonymity, without ruling out the possibility of face-to-face meetings.

The North’s response came a week after the Lee Myung-bak administration’s offer, breaking its silence over how the government would handle the North’s woes brought on by Typhoon Bolaven.

The official did not elaborate on what type of aid might be offered but said that the next move was Seoul’s, since it had received the North’s reply.

The South’s Red Cross says some 176 North Koreans were killed and 220,000 are homeless due to recent floods including those unleashed by Bolaven, which hit the peninsula late last month.

Any talks would be seen as a gauge of the North’s willingness to engage under new leader Kim Jong-un on other inter-Korean issues such as resuming reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War and joint tours to the Mt. Geumgang resort.

The ministry has begun to give local civic groups approval to deliver food aid such as flour.

The Lee administration has been cautious in offering aid, following sanctions implemented after two deadly attack by the North in 2010, the sinking of the Cheonan, a Republic of Korea navy ship, and the shelling of Yeonpyeong island, which it is still waiting on apologies for. Last year it offered to send emergency supplies, but Pyongyang spurned the package, saying it wanted food and rice instead.

The international community remains wary that aid to the North is diverted for military purposes or stockpiled.

Analysts said the North’s move was a positive sign for possible engagement with the next administration, after Lee’s term was marred by high tension. <The Korea Times/Kim Young-jin>

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