North Korea on Wednesday rejected a South Korean offer to send it humanitarian aid, scuttling earlier hopes of easing tensions between the two Koreas.
South Korea made the offer Sept. 3. On Monday, North Korea told South Korea that it was ready to discuss it and asked what the South planned to provide and how much. That raised hopes that the two governments might resume dialogue after years of tension.
The North has repeatedly refused contact with the government of President Lee Myung-bak.
In a letter to the North on Tuesday, South Korea said it could deliver 10,000 tons of flour, three million packets of instant noodles and medicine. It added that it was willing to discuss additional aid once the two sides met.
On Wednesday, the South Korean Ministry of Unification said that the North had turned this down. “In its response today, the North expressed dissatisfaction and said, ‘We don’t need such aid,”’ it said. “It’s deeply regrettable that the North Korean government is rejecting our offer to help the North Korean people.”
In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea called the South’s “meager” offer “deeply insulting.”
“We did not have any big expectation from the South’s puppet regime, but this time, we are further disillusioned,” it said, insisting that the South rejected North Korea’s requests for shipments of grains, concrete or construction equipment. In the past, South Korean officials have expressed fears that the North would use such aid for its military.
North Korea also rejected a similar offer from the South last year, calling it too small. South Korea used to send as much as 500,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer a year, until Mr. Lee took office in 2008 and said such largess would halt until the North took concrete steps toward dismantling its nuclear weapons program. Relations were further strained after North Korea shelled a South Korean island in 2010.
North Korea recently asked for assistance from the United Nations after its state news media reported extensive damage caused by flooding and typhoons since June. More than 200 people have been killed and large tracts of farmland destroyed, according to North Korean state media.
South Korea made the offer Sept. 3. On Monday, North Korea told South Korea that it was ready to discuss it and asked what the South planned to provide and how much. That raised hopes that the two governments might resume dialogue after years of tension.
The North has repeatedly refused contact with the government of President Lee Myung-bak.
In a letter to the North on Tuesday, South Korea said it could deliver 10,000 tons of flour, three million packets of instant noodles and medicine. It added that it was willing to discuss additional aid once the two sides met.
On Wednesday, the South Korean Ministry of Unification said that the North had turned this down. “In its response today, the North expressed dissatisfaction and said, ‘We don’t need such aid,”’ it said. “It’s deeply regrettable that the North Korean government is rejecting our offer to help the North Korean people.”
In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea called the South’s “meager” offer “deeply insulting.”
“We did not have any big expectation from the South’s puppet regime, but this time, we are further disillusioned,” it said, insisting that the South rejected North Korea’s requests for shipments of grains, concrete or construction equipment. In the past, South Korean officials have expressed fears that the North would use such aid for its military.
North Korea also rejected a similar offer from the South last year, calling it too small. South Korea used to send as much as 500,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer a year, until Mr. Lee took office in 2008 and said such largess would halt until the North took concrete steps toward dismantling its nuclear weapons program. Relations were further strained after North Korea shelled a South Korean island in 2010.
North Korea recently asked for assistance from the United Nations after its state news media reported extensive damage caused by flooding and typhoons since June. More than 200 people have been killed and large tracts of farmland destroyed, according to North Korean state media.
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