South Korea says no response from North on flood relief offer

Seoul – South Korea said on Aug 2 it had received no response after trying to contact the North to offer humanitarian aid following reports of deaths and heavy damage caused by recent flooding.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said in a statement on Aug 1 that it was willing to “urgently provide” humanitarian assistance to “North Korean disaster victims” impacted by the downpour.

The ministry attempted to contact the North to make an offer of aid via the Koreas’ liaison office communication channel, but Pyongyang has not responded, Seoul said on Aug 2.

“We will not make assumptions about the situation and look forward to a prompt response (from the North) to our proposal,” Ms Kim In-ae, the deputy spokesperson for the ministry, told reporters.

North Korea earlier this week said a “record downpour” hit its northern border areas near China on July 27, resulting in “a grave crisis in which more than 5,000 inhabitants were isolated in the zone vulnerable to flooding”.

On July 31, Pyongyang said many “public buildings, facilities, roads and railways, including more than 4,100 houses and nearly 3,000ha of farmlands” were flooded in the northern regions of Sinuiju and Uiju.

On the same day, North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un “proposed to strictly punish” officials who neglected their disaster prevention duties, which had caused unspecified deaths or injuries.

A report by South Korea’s TV Chosun also said hundreds of people could have been killed.

Mr Kim has been shown in multiple videos this week traversing floodwaters in a rubber boat, overseeing rescue operations involving military helicopters.

Natural disasters tend to have a greater impact on the isolated and impoverished North due to its weak infrastructure, while deforestation has left it vulnerable to flooding.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, but the Unification Ministry on Aug 1 expressed “deep sympathy” for the flood victims in the North.

Pyongyang unilaterally cut off all official military and political communication links with Seoul in 2020 and blew up a disused inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border.

The inter-Korean liaison office channel was restored in 2021, but the North has not been responding to the hotline calls since April 2023.

Despite Pyongyang’s lack of response, Seoul has been attempting to communicate with the North through the channel twice daily, every day, according to the ministry. AFP