On Friday, two trucks with medicine for malaria and other aid left for the North Korean border.

[Hwang Jae-sung, Korean Sharing Movement]: (Korean, male)
"To efficiently cope with North Korea's malaria outbreak we are sending 45,000 tablets of anti-malaria medicine for pregnant women, and 122,000 square meters of mosquito nets to the North. We hope this aid will help protect North Koreans from being infected with malaria."

On Thursday morning, other charities organized trucks loaded with rice to travel across the Demilitarized Zone which divides North and South Korea.

[Chi Kwang-beom, Medical Aid for Children]: (Korean, male)
"We collected 80 tons of rice for North Korea's flood victims. We hope this aid will become a seed for reunification of the peninsula."

Heavy rains in July and August hit food production that even in a good year falls a million tons short of the amount needed to feed the North's 23-million people.

Even before the flooding, North Korea was believed to be under intense economic pressure. It was made worse with international sanctions imposed last year after a nuclear test. Also, a botched currency reform triggered inflation which wiped out ordinary people's savings.