Seoul Offers Additional $1.4 Mil. in Relief


By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter


The number of South Korean casualties from the deadly quake and a series of huge tidal waves that hit nine South Asian countries on Sunday has kept rising with three confirmed dead, 12 missing and 17 injured as well as three remaining unaccounted for as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The latest recorded victim was a 75-year-old woman, identified only by the family name Bae, who was reported missing on the first day of the disaster, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The number of those injured increased from 14 to 17 as a result of additional investigations at hospitals in Thailand, the ministry said.

While most incidents of dead, injured and missing South Koreans are centered in and around the southern Thai island of Phuket, three South Koreans residing in India remain unaccounted for in Indonesia.

The ministry also said it is still receiving reports from family members of the affected. Currently, whereabouts of a total of 160 people are still to be confirmed, but there might be some overlapping in the numbers, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and a medical aid group affiliated with the Korea International Foundation for Health and Development dispatched an emergency aid team to Sri Lanka, where damage from the tsunami attacks were severe.

Among the team, which consists of a total of 20 people, five are medical specialists and the others are nurses, pharmacists and administrative officials. Following the first party, a shipment will be dispatched today with medicine and other medical supplies worth 200 million won ($192,000).

The Health and Welfare Ministry and other civilian organizations will set up a cooperative body to effectively assist the nations that affected by the tsunami.

saltwall@koreatimes.co.kr