LOC12:06
09:06 GMT
TOKYO, Sept 21 (KUNA) -- South Korea on Thursday approved a plan to provide USD 8 million in aid to North Korea via UN agencies despite North's repeated provocations, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The government decided to support infants and pregnant women in North Korea, citing a serious humanitarian crisis facing them, according to the Unification Ministry.
It marked the resumption of aid after a hiatus of nearly two years. The move came amid concerns that Seoul's aid may compromise international efforts to pressure Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and missile programs.
The ministry said that the international community is sternly responding to North Korea's provocations, but also emphasizing the need to extend humanitarian assistance to North Koreans. "The global community has shared its view about the need to separate aid from politics," Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon was quoted as saying in Seoul.
Under the plan, the South will provide USD 4.5 million for a nutrition program run by the World Food Program (WFP). It will also chip in USD 3.5 million to a project on nutrition and vaccine provisions by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). A UN report showed that about 72 percent of the 24.9 million North Koreans are suffering from food shortages and malnutrition. (end)
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