The government has sent its first batch of flood aid to North Korea to help the isolated country recover from damage due to heavy rains in early August.

A Unification Ministry official said that 60 trucks, each with a five-ton capacity, were loaded with building materials and equipment and sent to the North via an overland route on Monday.

The official added that all reconstruction material and equipment would be sent by the end of September except cement, which would be shipped next month.

The government decided to provide 100-thousand tons of cement, five-thousand tons of iron bar, 80 trucks, 500 tons of light oil, 20 units of road work machines and 20-thousand tons of pitch to the flood-stricken North.

Seoul and Pyongyang agreed that part of the cement and all of the trucks would be transferred overland.