President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday sent a message of commiseration to Chinese President Hu Jintao after a powerful earthquake that devastated China's southwest Sichuan province. In the message, Lee said, "I present my deep condolences to the victims and hope that your country will recover from the disaster as soon as possible."
The government said it is ready to send emergency aid supplies as well as dispatch rescue workers and medical staff to Sichuan as soon as it receives a request from China. Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said, "We're now ready to provide emergency aid supplies, and dispatch 41 rescue workers and about 20 medical staff to help China recover from the earthquake. We will decide when and how much aid materials and how many rescue workers and medical staff we can send to the affected area after consultation with the Chinese government."
The government is reportedly planning to provide US$500,000-1 million worth of aid to China as a first-stage rescue program. A government official said, "About 1,000 Koreans live in the affected area. No Korean casualties have been reported, but we have difficulty grasping the situation because communications have been cut off."
Before the earthquake, 146 South Korean tourists, who had returned from Jiuzhaigou, a tourist resort north of the epicenter, arrived in Chengdu to travel back to South Korea. But they have been stranded at Chengdu Airport waiting for a return flight, the South Korean Embassy in Beijing said Tuesday.
