Red Cross to collect medicine donations for N.K.

South Korea`s Red Cross will meet with local pharmaceutical companies on Wednesday to appeal for donations of medical aid to the North, as part of humanitarian assistance expected to be shipped within weeks, according to Yonhap News.

The medical aid was part of an offer the government made to North Korea on Oct. 26, along with 10,000 tons of corn and 20 tons of powdered milk. The small-scale assistance, when delivered, will be the first state-level aid to the North in nearly two years.

North Korea has yet to respond to the offer, but Seoul officials said they understand there is a consensus, as Pyongyang had requested aid from Seoul during inter-Korean Red Cross talks in earlier October.

"The North side has yet to reply, but it`d be difficult to get the preparations done after there is an answer," Song Soon-hwa, a Red Cross spokeswoman, said.

Song said the Red Cross will ask representatives from 17 pharmaceutical companies about what type and quantity of medicine they can give.