Not that it was unexpected, Lee Jae Sung, the Minister of Reunification has announced plans to provide 7.1 billion Won(around $7 million) in flood relief for N. Korea.
The relief package includes ramen(didn’t NK tell SK not to send any more of these?), bottled water, cooking utensils, medicine etc. and will be delivered via the Korean Red Cross, possibly next week.
Of course the aid doesn’t end there, Minister Lee has hinted at the possibility of additional relief after further consultations with N. Korea.
There has been speculation that the floods will threaten prospects for the summit. From the looks of it, the government sure is trying very hard to keep it alive.
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NK doesn’t want the ramen because it’s too costly to repackage it as a NK product before selling it to China…that and sending salty food loaded with MSG isn’t the greatest of ideas when your remember that the floods would have contaminated most of the potable water.
#1. The SK government is sending bottled water along with the ramen.
At 1159 I made this comment under the Roh Auto Issue. I guess three cups of espresso this morning put my mind in overdrive.
“Are we agreeing, despite the severe flooding that has decimated over 10% of the NORK farmland and left countless thousands homeless with who knows how many killed, that this “dog and pony show” will still occur?
My vote is an 11th hour appeal by KJI to postpone the visit so he can “take care of his people” and Roh will be compelled to send an extra boat load of rice and cooking oil in his place.”
Just an appetizer. This still doesn’t involve paying any actual money to NK. KJI certainly wants cash a lot more than ramyun.
As a negotiating tactic, this move doesn’t exactly make Roh appear to be taking a hard line.