Int'l relief group to send US$600,000 in aid to N. Korea

An international relief organization plans to send emergency aid to parts of North Korea that have been hit hard by recent torrential rains, a U.S. report claimed Saturday. Radio Free Asia, citing a spokesperson at Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief and evangelism organization, said US$600,000 worth of aid will be sent to parts of Kangwon and South Hwanghae provinces near the border with South Korea. The aid will be delivered by other means than a plane, with no details being given on what will be sent. The move comes as the United States Agency for International Development said last month that five U.S.-based private organizations, including Samaritan's Purse, will send $900,000 worth of aid to the North to help ease the plight of the people affected by the heavy rains. Relief groups claimed that rain caused extensive damage to farmlands and social infrastructure facilities in the Kangwon and Hwanghae regions. Washington in recent months has taken steps to permit humanitarian assistance to be sent to the communist country, despite ongoing disputes over the North's nuclear weapons program and military actions against South Korea that have stalled talks. An emergency relief shipment airlifted from the United States earlier in the week is expected to arrive in Pyongyang over the weekend for distribution. The U.S. government has contributed blankets, hygiene items and other emergency necessities.