A South Korean ship loaded with instant noodles sailed North yesterday to help victims of last week's train blast, as Seoul moved to meet Pyongyang's request for building materials and school supplies.
At least 161 people died and 1,300 were injured in Thursday's blast, which the official KCNA news agency said had the force of 100 one-tonne bombs and caused "horrible" damage in a 4km radius in Ryongchon on the Chinese border.
"[The] strong explosion left many inhabitants blind and deaf," it said.
About 370 victims remained hospitalized, two-thirds of them children. Many suffered severe burns and eye injuries from the blast's shock wave of glass, rubble and heat. Many could lose sight in at least one eye, said Dr. Eigil Sorensen, a representative for the World Health Organization (WHO).
He visited the blast site and nearby hospitals on Tuesday.
Aid from China and Russia has reached North Korea by land and air, and many other countries have offered help. More is on the way from Japan and the World Health Organization (WHO). The UN appealed urgently on Tuesday for 1,000 tonnes of food.
A spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in Beijing that global relief agencies had met emergency needs for medical supplies at Ryongchon, but that authorities were having difficulty sheltering those made homeless by the blast.
"There is evidence that some people are, what we feared very early on, back on the streets," said Red Cross spokesman John Sparrow. "They've got tarpaulins as shelter."
He said the 479 patients were spread over six hospitals in the disaster area, with their conditions changing rapidly.
"Our impression is that perhaps as many as two-thirds of the serious cases involve children," he said.
He said that the Ryongchon crisis was taxing aid groups' supplies in North Korea.
But almost a week after two trains carrying fertilizer and fuel exploded during what KCNA said was careless shunting, South Korea has been unable to get its supplies in by road or air.
South Korean television showed one ship leaving the west coast port of Inchon for Nampo in North Korea around noon. It was expected to arrive around 10:00pm .
Officials said the ship was carrying 100,000 instant noodle meals, water, blankets, clothing, first aid kits, medicine and medical instruments from the government. A second ship carrying charity aid was scheduled to leave later in the day.
The North has accepted both shipments. South Korea took steps yesterday towards fulfilling Pyongyang's main request, with the government holding discussions with political parties.
"The government is positively weighing the North Korean request with a view to meeting it as much as possible," Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told a news conference.
The North has asked for building materials, bulldozers, school blackboards and 50 televisions. The South offered first aid and medical teams, but Pyongyang said it had enough.
Yonhap news agency reported that Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun had told the leader of the main opposition party: "Now that medical supplies are provided by a number of countries and organizations, the South can send building materials and food."
Jeong was quoted as saying that the government planned to send goods worth 25 billion won (US$21.7 million). A ministry spokesman said no final decision had yet been made on the North's list of 13 categories, including fuel, excavators and steel.
South Korean media were critical of the North's attitude.
"Taking into account the North's situation, who will accept such excuses?" said the JoongAng Daily in an editorial.
"Of course, the North is worried about the impact on its regime after South Korean medical teams treat the victims with advanced equipment. But the North must think first about the magnitude and severity of this disaster," the newspaper said.
The left-wing Hankyoreh said it was frustrating but Seoul should respect the North's request "with a generous heart even if the situation is slightly unlike how we'd prefer it to be."
Indonesia yesterday began enforcing its newly ratified penal code, replacing a Dutch-era criminal law that had governed the country for more than 80 years and marking a major shift in its legal landscape. Since proclaiming independence in 1945, the Southeast Asian country had continued to operate under a colonial framework widely criticized as outdated and misaligned with Indonesia’s social values. Efforts to revise the code stalled for decades as lawmakers debated how to balance human rights, religious norms and local traditions in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. The 345-page Indonesian Penal Code, known as the KUHP, was passed in 2022. It
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
Russia early yesterday bombarded Ukraine, killing two people in the Kyiv region, authorities said on the eve of a diplomatic summit in France. A nationwide siren was issued just after midnight, while Ukraine’s military said air defenses were operating in several places. In the capital, a private medical facility caught fire as a result of the Russian strikes, killing one person and wounding three others, the State Emergency Service of Kyiv said. It released images of rescuers removing people on stretchers from a gutted building. Another pre-dawn attack on the neighboring city of Fastiv killed one man in his 70s, Kyiv Governor Mykola
RSS