PRESS RELEASE KOREA PLEDGES $30 MILLION TO HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF EFFORTS (WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 9, 2005)  With some 90 countries and nongovernmental bodies around the world committed to helping restore the U.S. Gulf Coast region in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Korea, with its pledge of $30 million in cash and the dispatch of a rescue team, is the fourth largest donor to America's relief and recovery efforts. The top three donors are Middle East oil producers, according to the U.S. Department of State on Sept. 6. Kuwait has offered $400 million in oil products plus $100 million in cash, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which committed $100 million each. Korea was ahead of Japan and major advanced European countries in terms of the level of donation: key U.S. ally Japan's consists of $1 million in cash and relief goods such as generators and tents. Elsewhere in Asia, Australia contributed $10 million, most of the money through the U.S. Red Cross, China, $5.1 million and relief goods, and India, $5 million, respectively. The Korean government offered to send Lee Tae-shik, Vice Foreign Minister to the U.S., as the leader of a 40-member emergency rescue team to the Gulf Coast. The team will fly there later this week with a 100-ton relief cargo of 20,000 blankets, diapers, cots and wheel chairs. Seoul's commitment of $30 million will comprise of $5 million from the government budget with the remainder to be raised through collection of contributions by the Korean National Red Cross, the religious community, and Korean companies doing business in the U.S. SOURCE: Embassy of the Republic of Korea CONTACT: Thomas Kim, 202-393-4884 URL: http://www.scribeus.com Return to News & Resources Return to Top

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