SEOUL -- South Korea has offered to send aid supplies to North Korea to help the country recover from heavy rains and floods that damaged thousands of homes and huge swaths of farmland.

It's unclear whether North Korea would accept South Korea's proposal for help on Thursday as animosity between the war-divided rivals is at its highest in years over the North's growing nuclear ambitions and the South's expansion of combined military exercises with the U.S. and Japan to counter the North's threats.

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the South was willing to swiftly provide supplies to address the "humanitarian difficulties" facing North Korean residents affected by the rains and floods.