S Korea's Red Cross seeks medical donations for DPRK aid

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's Red Cross said Wednesday it will meet with local pharmaceutical companies to ask for medical donations which will be used for humanitarian aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"The North side (the DPRK) has yet to reply, but it'd be difficult to get the preparations done after receiving an answer," Song Soon-hwa, a Red Cross spokeswoman, said.

According to Song, the Red Cross is to request representatives from 17 local pharmaceutical companies on the type and quantity of medicine they could offer.

The move comes as the South Korean government on Oct. 26 vowed to offer the DPRK to offer medical assistance, together with 10,000 tons of corn and 20 tons of powdered milk.

Although the DPRK has not given a response to the offer, South Korea claims that they have reached a consensus, saying Pyongyang has requested aid from Seoul during inter-Korean Red Cross talks in earlier October.

If delivered, the upcoming move will be marked as the first state-level aid to the DPRK in nearly two years.