Attendees from the South Korean side arrive by train in Gaeseong, a border town of North Korea, to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for rail and road connection across border between the two Koreas, Dec. 26, 2018. Xinhua-Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

South Korea will send flu medication to North Korea, aiming to complete the delivery of packages by the end of January next year, an official at the Ministry of Unification said, Thursday.

"At the request of North Korea, South Korea will send flu medication and Tamiflu packages to North Korea to help the latter combat influenza. The goods will be transported via trucks led by South Korean officials," an official at the ministry said.

The last time South Korea sent Tamiflu packages to its impoverished neighbor was December 2009 when then President Lee Myung-bak sent aid to combat the outbreak of H1N1 flu in North Korea with "no condition" in order to try and limit the spread of the disease.

At that time, the South provided North Korea with 400,000 doses of Tamiflu and Relenza Rotadisk for 100,000 more, plus approximately $858,000 worth of hand sanitizer. Seoul used more than $15.3 million from the inter-Korean cooperation fund for transportation and other additional costs related to the aid provision.

The ministry official declined to specify the monetary value and volume of Tamiflu packages that Seoul is considering sending.

The announcement came after a U.S. special envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun discussed with his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon to help the North get "sufficient tamiflu drug packages" particularly in the winter during his recent visit to Seoul. Biegun said he will be looking with aid groups at how to deliver "appropriate assistance" to the North.

Cho Myoung-gyon, right, South Korean Unification Minister, and Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for rail and road connection across border between South Korea and North Korea at Panmun Station in the North's border town of Gaeseong on Dec. 26, 2018. Xinhua-Yonhap

The official added the ministry is expecting to see the result of joint research on railways and roads in North Korea, the purpose of which was aimed at modernizing the railway infrastructure in the North.

"The ministry plans to announce the results either January or February next year as we are still working on it," the official told reporters in a briefing.

On Wednesday, the two Koreas held a groundbreaking ceremony for early resumption of road and railway links across the border that separates the Koreas. The event, which was more symbolic than an actual start of the project, was held in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong, where the largest inter-Korean industrial complex, which remains suspended for the time being, is located.

The official said the ministry will be discussing with Cheong Wa Dae and Foreign Ministry to grant expanded sanctions exemptions from the United States-led United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to push forward with additional plans for the railway and road projects in accordance with President Moon Jae-in's "railway diplomacy."