By Kim Young-jin
South Korean civic groups providing flour aid to North Korea will have their “strongest-ever” system to monitor deliveries, an official said.
Last week, Seoul allowed three local aid groups to deliver a total of 400 tons of flour to the impoverished North, the first such assistance in eight months, on condition it be monitored properly.
To make it possible, the North agreed to complete detailed reports before and after delivery and allow the groups to make site visits to ensure provision to the intended targets, Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said.
“When we asked for reports in the past, in many cases we only received a blank page back. They agreed to provide more details this time,” she said.
The monitoring system is “not as strong as when government provides aid, but it is the strongest ever for civic-level aid.”
The groups are expected to visit the North in the coming weeks to confirm that the flour was distributed to the hospitals, nurseries, schools and other intended facilities agreed upon between the sides.
The flour deliveries were the first since November, when Seoul halted all aid and imposed a travel ban after Pyongyang shelled Yeonpyeong Island, killing four.
The Lee Myung-bak administration has since been selectively allowing groups to deliver humanitarian aid but excluded flour from the list of approved items since it is more easily diverted for military purposes. It has yet to resume any government-level aid.
It has begun widening the activities reflecting early signs of warming between the sides, however. On Monday, it allowed two groups to make flour deliveries followed by an additional one Thursday.
The North has been calling for humanitarian aid for months echoed by reports of serious food shortages and the requests could become more pressing following the torrential rain that has caused severe damage on either side of the border.
The European Union earlier this month announced it would send assistance worth 10 million euros to the North in a deal that Brussels said warranted high levels of monitoring access.
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