Buddhist group sends food for mothers, babies in N. Korea

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean Buddhist organization said Tuesday that it shipped a fresh batch of food aid for mothers and children in North Korea.

Baby formula and food for mothers worth 380 million won (US$302,307) will be
distributed in Hoeryong, a town in the impoverished state's northernmost North
Hamgyong Province, said Seoul-based Jungto Society (JTS).
The organization expects the food aid, including dried seaweed powder, flour,
milk powder, sugar and salt, will be able to reach 2,500 mothers and 6,300
infants and children.
"Hamgyong Province usually receives even less outside assistance than other
regions because it is at the northeastern tip of the country. We are reaching out
to those who are most vulnerable to food shortages in the region," Kim Ae-kyung,
a JTS organizer, said.
The shipment from the southern port of Busan is expected to arrive in the North's
northeastern port of Rajin by Thursday in normal weather conditions, Kim said.
JTS delivered life support, oxygen generators and other medical equipment worth
150 million won to a hospital in the same province early this month. This past
year, it also sent 1,200 tons of flour and 500 tons of noodles to the country.
Another non-governmental organization said it delivered 50,000 charcoal fuel
briquets to two North Korean border towns -- Kaesong on the west coast and Kosong
on the east coast -- respectively.
Briquet Sharing Movement said half of the aid was donated by the South Korean
county of Goseong, which shares the inter-Korean border with North Korea's Kosong
county.
Kaesong and Kosong received 800,000 briquets each from the organization in 2008,
which will help 3,200 households keep warm through the winter, it said.
Private aid to North Korea continued this past year despite the government's
suspension of rice and fertilizer shipments amid frozen inter-Korean ties.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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