PYONGYANG, North Korea, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Impoverished North Korea joined an international relief campaign for tsunami-hit Southeast Asia Wednesday by pledging $150,000 in aid.
It is a rare gesture of international relief aid by North Korea, which has relied on international humanitarian handouts to feed its 23 million people since its 1995 floods.
The state's Korean Central News Agency said the country has decided to offer $150,000 for tsunami-devastated Asian nations, in which more than 150,000 people were killed.
"The government and people of the DPRK (North Korea) express condolences and sympathy to the governments and peoples of the afflicted countries and hope the aftermath of the quake and tsunami will be eradicated," it said. KCNA did not say how the aid would be distributed to the affected countries.
Meanwhile, South Korea has decided to increase its aid to the disaster-hit countries to $50 million.
