Citing floods, North delays family talks

Inter-Korean Red Cross talks, scheduled to begin Wednesday, were postponed until Friday due to typhoon damage in North Korea, officials said Tuesday.

"It is unavoidable to delay the fourth inter-Korean Red Cross talks for two days," said Chang Jae-on, the North Korean Red Cross chief, in a telephone message to his South Korean counterpart. He cited "damage caused by typhoon and torrential rainfall in the Tongcheon and Goseong regions of Gangwon province." The meeting to discuss issues about separated families will begin in the North's Mount Geumgang resort Friday.

Typhoon Rusa, the fifth typhoon of the season, directly hit the Korean Peninsula, sweeping away a bridge in the resort complex in the North's scenic mountain. Four roads between the Jangjeon Harbor, mainly used to receive South Korean visitors and tourists, were cut by landslides.

The official Central News Agency reported Tuesday that an average of 30 millimeters of rain per hour poured in the North's Gangwon province. "More than 550 millimeters of rain fell one day, creating enormous damage, including dozens of deaths, missing and injured persons," the agency said.

On Tuesday at Panmunjeom, the two Koreas exchanged interim lists of candidates to attend a separated-family reunion, the fifth of its kind, before the Chuseok holiday on Sept. 21. The final list of 100 persons from each side will be exchanged Thursday.

by Lee Young-jong