South Korea send aid to North

After accusations of sinking a ship in March, South Korea has offered flood aid to its depleted neighbour in the North. The Red Cross has offered aid worth 10 billion won (US$8.3m) after the USA brought in new sanctions about the sinking.

South Korea blame Pyongyang for sinking the Cheonan and killing its crew with a torpedo. But North Korea denies any role in the incident and wants to hold its own investigation into the matter. North Korea has relied on food aid from both South Korea and China since the famine in the 1990s that caused millions of deaths. But the country has been hit by large floods over the past two months and is in need of aid. The aid is said to include medical kits, emergency food and supplies. The offer has yet to be accepted by the North. Under President Lee Myung-back the South has stepped back from providing unconditional aid to its northern neighbour and has linked the provision of the aid to the North ending its nuclear programme. An official offer in 2009 was the last made after the North rejected an offer the year before to help with the famine because of the high tension between the countries. The offer for aid came after North Korea indicated a return to talks over ending its nuclear ambitions in China last week. Kim Jong-Il told the Chinese president that he wants to see the negotiations resumed. The talks involve both Korea’s, China, Russia, Japan and the US have been stalled since 2008, and do not look like resuming anytime soon with South Korea demanding an apology about the current incident and also Japan and China saying it is not the right time to return to talks.