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Two North Korean children make their way on July 31 along the Aprok river bordering China and North Korea with smiles on their faces.
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North reluctant to ask for aid from South: sources
According to South Korean civic groups and those in charge of inter-Korean economic exchange, Pyongyang did not seem to have received serious damage from recent heavy rains. While they said it was hard to confirm the level of damage in other parts of North Korea, they heard on their visit to Pyongyang that it is a serious situation. North Korean officials felt unsatisfied with the South’s suspension of rice and fertilizer aid, the groups said, while they firmly thought that the South-North economic exchange projects, including the Kaesong (Gaeseong) Industrial Complex and Mt. Kumkang (Geumgang) tours should be maintained. Kang Yong-sik of Korean Sharing Movement (KSM), an alliance of six religious groups and civic groups, said about the damage to Pyongyang, “I could see a dock by the Taedong River that was destroyed, and many trees around Yanggakdo Hotel had fallen.” He visited Pyongyang on July 19-22, right after the torrential rains hit North Korea.Kang, however, added, “I heard from a North Korean official that Pyongyang suffered less because it has relatively good irrigation facilities. They say that in South Pyongan and Hwanghae provinces, up to 200 persons were dead or missing.” As for the North Korean reaction to the suspension of South Korean aid following the North’s missile tests in early July, Lee Kwang-mun, an official of Korea Welfare Foundation, said, “The North Korean officials said that the South Korean government is overreacting about the missile tests.” According to officials of other civic organizations supporting the North, North Korean officials said, “When the South stops rice and fertilizer aid, how can we request help for the flood disaster,” indicating that they would not be asking for aid from the South. But officials in charge of South-North economic cooperation, who recently visited North Korea, agreed that the North hasn’t changed its position on inter-Korea economic cooperation. “I know that the North Korean workers received an order to continue work without becoming agitated,” a South Korean official at Kaesong Industrial Complex said, asking to remain unnamed. “July 27 was a holiday [for North Korea], but about 900 laborers showed up at work,” the official said. An official of Hyundai Asan, who returned after discussing over restoration of Shingye Temple on Mt. Kumkang, said on condition of anonymity, “North Korean officials are worried that the number of visitors to Mt. Kumgang has declined since the missile crisis”
