S.Korean Red Cross to Aid N.Korean Flood Victims

The South Korean Red Cross said Monday it decided to donate US$100,000 to flood victims in North Korea through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The money will be sent to the IFRC bank account in a day or two, a spokesman said. The IFRC will then buy relief materials such as tents, emergency supplies and cooking utensils and distribute them to flood victims in cooperation with the North Korean Red Cross Society.

The donation comes from the KRC's "fund for North Korean residents."

Meanwhile, the North Korean Red Cross recently turned down a request from the South Korean branch for renewed reunions of families separated by the Korean War.

North Korea says heavy rain and floods in late June and July left about 560 people dead or missing and 144 others injured while destroying some 8,600 houses and displacing about 210,200 people.

englishnews@chosun.com / Aug. 21, 2012 12:05 KST