By Kim Young-jin
Six officials from a South Korean civic coalition arrived in Pyongyang Wednesday on a trip to verify delivery of flour to the impoverished state.
The monitors from the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation travelled to the North’s capital via Beijing and were later expected to travel south to Sariwon to check on 300 tons of flour that was sent last week.
"The officials will visit several institutions to confirm if the flour has been distributed in line with the distribution plan document," an official of the Unification Ministry said.
It is the first trip to monitor the delivery of flour since November last year, when Seoul imposed a travel ban and cut off aid in response to Pyongyang’s shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.
Seoul believes the flour must be watched closely as it is easily diverted for military purposes.
The North has agreed to complete detailed reports before and after delivery and allow the groups to make site visits to ensure provision to the intended targets, the ministry says.
The aid was the first shipment of a total 2,500 tons of flour scheduled to be sent by the coalition by the end of the month.
The North has been calling for humanitarian aid for months warranted by reports of serious food shortages.
Later Wednesday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it would provide some $590,000 in emergency relief to help the North cope with recent torrential rains.
On its website the IFRC said it would provide assistance to over 15,000 homeless or displaced people over the next six months.
The move came after reports from North Korea that powerful winds and flash floods had destroyed 2,900 homes and dozens of people had died.
Seoul, which has yet to resume any government-level assistance, says it will take international assessments into consideration when deciding whether or not to send flood aid.