S. Korea unlikely to help N. Korea recover from flood damage

In this Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 file photo, workers repair the flood-damaged train track between SinJon and KanPhyong train stations in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea. North Korean soldiers and relief teams rushed to clear roads and railway tracks, build shelters and provide food and sanitation Friday to tens of thousands of residents in a remote part of the country near the Chinese border that was devastated by heavy downpours and flash-floods when a typhoon pounded their villages last week. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon, File)

South Korea said Monday that there is not much possibility that it will provide assistance to North Korea to help it recover from damage caused by recent floods given the high tensions following Pyongyang’s nuclear test.

North Korea’s northeastern region is struggling to cope with what is being called its worst-ever floods since the country’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule. Heavy rains are believed to have left more than 130 people dead and over 400 missing.

South Korea’s unification ministry said that North Korea has not formally asked the South to help it cope with the latest flood damage, adding that it is not likely to make a request for assistance.

“Even if North Korea appeals for help, we don’t think the possibility is high for assistance to be given under the current situation,” Jeong Joon-hee, ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing.

On Sept. 9, North Korea conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test to date, eight months after its fourth. North Korea’s nuclear provocation came almost right after heavy rains pummeled North Hamgyong Province for five days starting Aug. 29.

The spokesman said that North Korea should be first held accountable for the nuke test as it poured money into that project while neglecting the suffering of its people.

“North Korea carried out the nuclear test even as it suffered from flood damage. Pyongyang should focus on rehabilitation efforts for the livelihood of its people rather than spending money on its nuclear development program,” Jeong said.

A South Korean civic group asked the government in early September to approve its plan to contact North Korean officials at a third country in a bid to provide assistance to the North over the flood damage.

“The government is reviewing the group’s application,” Jeong said.

Seoul has suspended civilian inter-Korean exchanges and South Koreans’ visits to North Korea since Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test in January. (Yonhap, The Korea Times)