South Korea approves $183K in private humanitarian aid for North Korea

April 4, 2023

- UN experts warned last month that North Korea's unprecedented self-isolation since COVID-19 outbreak 'further aggravated the suffering' of its people

By Islamuddin Sajid

ANKARA (AA) – South Korean authorities approved the first private humanitarian aid for North Korea this year worth 240 million won (approx. $183,0 00), local media reported on Tuesday.

"The government plans to continue to approve the delivery of humanitarian goods to North Korea at the request of the civic groups if they meet all the requirements," Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting an unnamed Unification Ministry official.

Last year, South Korea approved 5.52 billion won in humanitarian aid to North Korea.

The UN experts warned last month that North Korea's unprecedented self-isolation since the COVID-19 outbreak has "further aggravated the suffering" of its people.

Elizabeth Salmon, the UN special rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has urged the international community to pay "urgent" attention to North Koreans' deteriorating access to food, medicine, and health care.

"People froze to death during the cold spell in January this year," she said, adding that "people had no money to heat their homes or they were even forced to live on the streets because they had sold their house as a last resort."

North Korea has been sanctioned since 2006 when it detonated a nuclear device.