Divided peninsulaponders aid needs
North Korea asked for rice, cement and heavy equipment instead of medicine and food after South Korea offered aid to its communist neighbour after recent flooding.
An overflowing river swamped farmland, houses and public buildings in the North’s north-west. Media reported that the region was “severely affected” by the flooding, though details remain unknown.
The aid offer came despite continuing tension over March’s deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on Pyongyang.