South Korea provides aid to refugees

JAKARTA (JP): The South Korean government will grant 120 sets of portable electrical generators to help East Timor refugees in East Nusa Tenggara who have decided to remain in Indonesia, South Korean Ambassador Hong Jung-pyo said.

"It was written in the memorandum of agreement that the aid was intended only to Indonesian citizens who are not going back to East Timor," Hong said on Wednesday.

"I will officially hand over the generators on Monday to the governor of East Nusa Tenggara in Atambua," Hong added.

Hong insisted that the Korean-made generators would be given only to refugees who wished to remain in Indonesia.

According to Indonesian officials an estimated 40 percent of some 260,000 East Timorese who fled their violence-ravaged homeland following the Aug. 30 self-determination ballot have chosen to stay in Indonesia.

The ambassador said that South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and President Abdurrahman Wahid had become good friends after their meeting on Nov. 26 in Manila on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) informal summit. South Korea, China and Japan were invited to the summit.

"Our government will support the Indonesian government," Hong said.

Along with the generators, worth some US$100,000, South Korean citizens in Indonesia will also donate instant noodles and clothes worth Rp 500 million ($66,700) to the refugees.

There were some 20,000 South Koreans living in Indonesia, according to Hong.

The three dimensional, colored, ultra-sonographic device donated to Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital is a Korean-made product with a value of $100,000. (04)