The South Korean government has proposed working-level inter-Korean talks to help combat an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) that has broken out in North Korea. If North Korea agrees, the government is set to provide aid in the form of antiseptics and vaccinations. 

North Korea reported the outbreak to the World Organization for Animal Health on February 19^th, saying that the disease had been found in Pyongyang and North Hwanghae Province in mid-January. The South Korean government received word of the outbreak the following day. 

A Ministry of Unification official explained to reporters yesterday that South Korean officials hope to meet their North Korean counterparts so as to establish precisely what equipment and medical assistance is needed. The Ministry of Unification issued a notification of the proposal to the chair of North Korea’s National Disease Prevention Committee in the name of South Korea’s Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency. 

Notably, the Ministry official denied any link between the plan for aid and assistance and ongoing separated family reunions, saying, “We paid no attention to [the reunions]; the government made this proposal on a purely humanitarian basis.” 

During another outbreak of the disease in March 2007, the South Korean government provided extensive aid in the form of medicines and equipment, and South Korean technicians visited North Korea to help with preventative measures.