By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter

South Korea will send its first shipment of relief goods for victims of a massive explosion in Ryongchon, North Korea, as early as Wednesday, Unification Ministry officials said on Monday.

``A commercial ship named `Trade Fortune’ will sail from Inchon Port for the North Korean port of Nampo on Wednesday afternoon. It will take roughly a day for it to get to the North,’’ a ministry official said.

Seoul’s fast-track delivery plan suffered a setback as Pyongyang rejected its request to use an overland route to transport relief assistance. It made a counterproposal to hold a meeting today at Kaesong, a North Korean border town. Pyongyang’s rejection came at Monday’s Red Cross meeting at the truce village of Panmunjom.

Seoul’s shipment will include 100,000 boxes of instant noodles, 10,000 bottles of mineral water, 3,000 blankets, 3,000 sets of relief materials and 3,000 items of clothing.

Trucks carrying relief goods arrived in convoy at a transport company in Koyang, northwest of Seoul, according to Red Cross officials.

Meanwhile, acting President Goh Kun instructed government officials to take measures to offer emergency assistance as quickly as possible for victims of the explosion, which killed at least 161 and injured 1,300.

Goh asked Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun to devise various ways to expediently transport the relief supplies to the North, according to Kim Duck-bong, a public relations secretary for Goh.

``Delivering aid such as medical supplies to the site of the explosion at the earliest time has priority over all other things now,’’ Goh was quoted as saying by his secretary.

Jeong said officers from the two Koreas were scheduled to meet at the truce village of Panmunjom later in the day. ``We’re fully operating various inter-Korean dialogue channels,’’ he was quoted as saying.

Thursday’s deadly blast has prompted the reclusive regime to hold out its hands for help. Seoul and the international community have responded rapidly to what the North Korean authorities characterized as an accident caused by human carelessness.

The North said a train cargo of oil and chemicals ignited when workers knocked the wagons against power lines.

yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr