Lawmakers of the de-facto ruling Uri Party and government officials met in a special session to discuss emergency relief measures for victims of North Korea's devastating train explosion.

Uri Party chief policymaker Jeong Se-kyun thanked government officials for their swift response in offering relief aid, even while calling for an increase in the South-North Cooperation Fund, which he called insufficient to deal with a disaster on the scale of the Ryongchon accident.

Another lawmaker said the Uri Party and the government need to step up efforts in extending support to North Korean blast victims, taking advantage of active cooperation from opposition parties.

Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said the unity across party lines in extending relief and recovery efforts for the North is the result of the policy of cooperation and reconciliation with the North the government has pursued over the past six years.

The minister went on to say that the South would convey to the North a supra-partisan offer of help for the disaster victims at the upcoming inter-Korean ministerial talks slated to open May 4th.