SEOUL: South Korea`s government said Wednesday it has approved a plan by local groups to send flood relief aid to North Korea, amid growing signs of a thaw after months of tension on the peninsula.

The Unification Ministry said it approved Tuesday requests to send emergency supplies worth a total of 2.24 billion won (1.2 million dollars) including 203 tons of rice.

The aid for flood victims in Sinuiju and Kaesong also includes flour, bread, blankets and instant noodles, said spokesman Chun Hae-Sung, adding the first shipment of 400 tons of flour would be sent Thursday.

It was the second time this week that Seoul groups have announced help following floods that hit the city of Sinuiju on the China border and the town of Kaesong, just north of the inter-Korean frontier.

The South`s Red Cross said Monday it would send supplies worth 10 billion won, including 5,000 tons of rice, 10,000 tons of cement and three million packs of instant noodles.

The Seoul government, which must by law approve all cross-border contacts, will bear most of the cost of the Red Cross shipment.

The North, which is set to hold a key meeting of its ruling communist party, has made a series of apparent peace overtures in recent weeks after months of fiery rhetoric.

Cross-border relations have been icy since Seoul accused Pyongyang of a warship attack which killed 46 people in March, a charge the North has angrily denied.

It threatened retaliation for a recent series of military drills which Seoul has staged as a show of force, either alone or jointly with its US ally.

But last week the North returned the crew of a South Korean boat accused of poaching on its fishing grounds, and offered to hold a new round of reunions for families separated by the peninsula`s division.

Red Cross officials from both Koreas are set to meet Friday at Kaesong to discuss restarting the reunions.

BDST: 0925 HRS, September 15, 2010