By Shim Jae-yun
Staff Reporter

The nation’s two most outstanding conservative newspapers Chosun Ilbo and Dong-a Ilbo on Monday drew particular attention when they launched donation campaigns to help the victims of the recent train explosion in North Korea while providing wide coverage of the tragic incident.

Their move was unusual as they have maintained negative views and reflected a hawkish conservative stance regarding North Korean affairs.

Chosun filled its first five pages with stories related to the explosion in Ryongchon near the Chinese border with various photos and articles sympathetic to the suffering of brethren in the North.

The paper said it would raise money to help the North Korean victims and its employees would donate 100 million won toward that end.

It carried a front-page article on the move by International Aid Korea (IAK) and other charity-related civic organizations, quoting IAK head Kim Chi-un as having said it would send 10 billion won worth of emergency medical goods to the North.

Through an editorial, it cited the need for North Korea to effectively tackle the catastrophe at the earliest possible date while calling on the South Korean government to roll up sleeves to provide all possible humanitarian assistance.

Dong-a also followed suit, packing its first six pages with relevant stories and photos.

Its employees decided to provide 50 million won in donations.

The paper called on the North Korean regime to exercise wisdom to cope with the disaster soon and take a lesson from it to speed up efforts to open further to the outside world.

``The North’s outside image will improve greatly once it learns the lesson of co-existence on the occasion of this disaster. No one in South Korea, or other nations as well, harbors antagonistic attitudes toward the North Korean people who need humanitarian assistance,’’ it said via an editorial.

jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr