SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said on Monday that it was ready to discuss humanitarian aid from the South to alleviate damage caused by flooding and typhoons.

The South Korean Red Cross Society first offered aid a week ago. On Monday, its North Korean counterpart said it wanted to know what the South planned to offer and how much, the South’s Unification Ministry said in a statement.

South Korea’s offer and the North’s response raised the possibility of the two governments resuming dialogue after years of tension. The North has repeatedly refused contact with President Lee Myung-bak’s government in the South.

The relations between the two Koreas have been chilly since Mr. Lee came to power in 2008 and cut off large shipments of aid unless North Korea took concrete steps toward dismantling its nuclear weapons program. Ties were further strained after North Korea shelled a South Korean island in 2010. In the same year, the North was also accused of sinking a South Korean Navy ship, killing 46 sailors.