The South Korean government will issue a decision this week
regarding an apparent aid request from a North Korean construction unit linked
to the mid-May apartment building collapse in downtown Pyongyang.
At a regular briefing on July 7th, a spokesperson from the
Ministry of Unification explained, “The Korea Rescue Association got a request
from the ‘General Bureau of Red Star Construction’ for assistance related to
the Pyongyang apartment collapse, [and] on July 6th they submitted a request to
visit North Korea.”
The original request from the state-run construction company
was received on June 9th.
The spokesperson went on, “The apartment collapse took place
on May 13th, and it has been stated that the clearance of the
surrounding area already ended. Moreover, the ‘General Bureau of Red Star Construction’
has never in [the history of] inter-Korean relations sent an invitation such as
this, so our decision has been delayed so that further checks can be carried
out.”
“The Korea Rescue Association previously requested entry
into North Korea on June 26th to investigate the situation,” he
revealed. “The Ministry will make a decision whether to allow entry this week,
following a review of the situation.”
The rubble from the building collapse has already been
cleared from the site, local photo and satellite evidence proves. This means
that any support delivered at this time would go into reconstruction and
disease prevention.
