The requested items are really for rebuilding the city, not caring for the injured. . .

-50,000 tons of cement
-10 bulldozers
-10 steam shovels
-500 tons of diesel oil
-500 tons of petrol
-1,000 tons of steel beams
-1,500 sets of school desks and chairs
-50 blackboards
-10,000 tons of foods
-50 television sets.

50 TVs, 50 blackboards and 1500 desks equals 50 classrooms of 30 children each, with one blackboard and tv set. Clearly to rebuild the elementary school that was next to the blast site. (The sign there simply says "Ryongchon School")

The 10,000 tons of food is a lot, that clearly going to more than the victims of the blast. Its going into the Armys food reserve first with a token amount going to the blast victims so that it will look good to the Red Cross, then any extra will to civilians civilians starving.

This is similar to the 500 tons of diesel oil, 500 tons of petrol. . . It apears N. Korea is not that low on feul though, this number could have been much higher.

. . .

Some of you may recall I posted on the origional request, which consisted of tents, water purification tablets and individual first aid kits.

(Disclaimer: This is my opinion and my opinion only, it is not that of the U.S. Army, nothing used here is even remotely realated to 'inside information', and nothing is classified or derived from miliraty sources)

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/04/30/200404300038.asp
Seoul accepts Pyongyang's aid requests

The South Korean government was quick off the mark yesterday, giving the green light to North Korea's requests for relief aid for its disaster-ridden northern-border city of Ryongcheon.

In a meeting presided by Prime Minister and Acting President Goh Kun, officials agreed to provide the 13 different types of aid requested by the communist state, in a relief package that will cost Seoul up to $25 million.

Attending the meeting, Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said the first batch of that shipment would be made early next week, as soon as Seoul was able to collect the supplies.

On Tuesday, Pyongyang asked for 50,000 tons of cement, 10 bulldozers, 10 steam shovels, 500 tons of diesel oil, 500 tons of petrol, 1,000 tons of steel beams, 1,500 sets of school desks and chairs, 50 blackboards, 10,000 tons of foods, and 50 television sets.

Other supplies immediately unavailable will be gathered by the government for shipment within the next two weeks.

"Current international aid to North Korea amounts to roughly $6.6 million. But our aid, including the heavy machinery and equipment, will come to four times that amount, estimated at around $24 million to $25 million dollars," Jeong said in a briefing.

With damage caused by the accident topping $356 million, according to North Korea's calculations, the impoverished country has called for additional aid from the South.

Meanwhile, the South Korean cargo ship Han Kwang, loaded with relief supplies worth $1 million for victims of the deadly train blast, arrived at North Korea's western port of Nampo yesterday at 7:00a.m., Unification Ministry officials confirmed.

The 1,534-ton freighter set sail early Wednesday to deliver the first batch of relief goods. The supplies were brought on ashore in the morning and made ready for delivery by land to the explosion site of Ryongcheon, 250 kilometers north of the port.

These relief materials include emergency medical kits, instant noodles, mineral water, blankets, towels and clothes.

North Korea's official mouthpiece, the KCNA news agency, reported yesterday that its country hopes to rebuild Ryongcheon.

The Stalinist state said it had begun the process as South Korean relief goods arrived in the impoverished nation as part of international rehabilitation efforts, the North's media reported Thursday.

"Our plan is to completely refurbish everything," the North's Central Broadcasting Station said, monitored by Yonhap News Agency in Seoul.

Work is under way to build "modern living quarters and public buildings on the leveled space." It added North Korea planned to complete the rehabilitation work within three months.

Much of Ryongchon, a transportation hub with a 130,000 population near the Sino-Korean border, was virtually leveled by the train blast a week ago. The casualty toll so far is 161 dead and over 1,300 others injured, of whom hundreds remain in a critical condition in hospitals lacking sufficient medication and treatment.

About 40 civic organizations in South Korea have combined to campaign for victims of the train explosion in North Korea, organizers said Thursday.

The Pan-National Campaign to Help Compatriots in Ryongcheon said at a news conference that it would hold an inaugural ceremony for its fund-raising campaign, and that academics and government officials had announced their willingness to participate.

North Korea compared the power of the blast to "100 bombs, each weighing one ton" going off at the same time. Foreign visitors said virtually all buildings were blown down up to 500 meters from the blast site.

(bluelle@heraldm.com)

By Choi Soung-ah