The request, a reply to an offer last week by Seoul's Red Cross to provide 10 billion won (US$8.4 million) in flood aid, was made in a message delivered to South Korea on Sept. 4, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters.
"If the South is to send flood aid, it will be better that resources and equipment necessary for recovery from flood damage be sent along with rice rather than emergency food, basic supplies and medical aid," Chun quoted the North's Red Cross as saying.
The South's Red Cross had not included rice as part of its offered aid. Chun said Seoul is "considering the North's request."
The request seems to coincide with the North's decision to free the seven crew members of a South Korean fishing boat that the communist state captured in the East Sea a month ago for allegedly violating its exclusive economic zone. Pyongyang will release the fishermen later Tuesday.
The Red Cross is the South's main channel for humanitarian cooperation with North Korea. South Korea has refused to send rice to North Korea amid strained inter-Korean relations since early 2008. If sent, the aid would contrast with the tension that has built up since Seoul blamed Pyongyang in May for the deadly sinking of its warship.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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