China will provide 20 million yuan ($3 million) in humanitarian aid to flood-hit DPRK, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday, after international aid agencies failed to raise enough funds.
"In response to DPRK's request, China decided to offer 20 million yuan in humanitarian aid for its post-flood reconstruction," according to an announcement released on the ministry's official website on Wednesday.
"The situation in DPRK's Hamgyong province is urgent since it's been decades since the area experienced floods of this scale. That's why the Chinese government is willing to lend a hand to our neighbor," Lü Chao, a research fellow at the Institute of China's Borderland History and Geography Studies of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Around 70,000 DPRK's were left homeless after their houses were destroyed by floodwaters in North Hamgyong in September. Around 18,600 households were totally destroyed by the floods and over 11,400 sustained damage, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Temperatures in the province are likely to drop as low as -15 C.
Lü said that providing humanitarian aid and enforcing UN sanctions on DPRK are two entirely different things.
"The aid is for flood victims, and reports from Japanese and U.S. media saying that the aid may be used by DPRK's military are groundless," said Lü.
Coal exports also have a huge impact on DPRK's livelihood, said Li Shaode, head of the Center for East Asian Studies at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times in a previous report.
China imported 1.53 million tons of coal from DPRK in April, 35 percent lower than March, while August imports from DPRK had risen to a record-high of 2.47 million tons.
The Red Cross started an emergency campaign for funds in September calling for $15.5 million donation but only 25 percent of the target has been acquired so far with many donors questioning how the North could afford the nuclear test while has no sufficient funds for its people, according to AFP.
In March, UN Security Council banned the 193 UN member states from importing North Korean coal, iron and iron ore unless such transactions are for "livelihood purposes," and would not be generating revenue for Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs following its fourth nuclear test in January, said Reuters.
