South Korea ? South Korea will give an additional $40 million in aid to help North Korea recover from devastating floods earlier this month, a top official announced today.

The offer of aid comes in response to a request from the North for construction materials and heavy equipment, and will include cement, trucks, reinforcing rods and other construction machinery, Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung told reporters.

This month’s annual summer rains in the impoverished North appear to have caused the worst damage in years, leaving about 300 people dead or missing and reportedly destroying 11 percent of the crops at the height of the growing season.