By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
South Korea has been increasing aid to North Korea via international relief agencies amid mounting criticism of its direct aid to the Stalinist North, which has not yet dismantled its nuclear weapons program.
The Ministry of Unification plans to provide aid to the North seven times this year through international agencies, including the World Food Program (WFP), ministry officials said.
The total cost of the planned aid programs will reach about $40 million, they said.
This is a significant increase from last year, when the South's aid via international agencies totaled about $12 million. In 2005, it reached $2 million.
The planned aid programs are three for the World Health Organization (WHO) and one each for the United Nations Children' Funds (UNICEF), the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and the WFP, the officials said.
About $9.38 million will be offered to North Korean infants via the WHO, as well as $1.38 million and $1.05 million to prevent the spread of malaria and measles, respectively, they said.
Via UNICEF, Seoul plans to provide $3.15 million for infants, while IVI will receive $500,000 to provide vaccine aid. It will donate $2 million to ESCAP to help North Korean officials learn skills in the sectors of environment, energy, water resource management, transportation and mathematics.
South Korea also plans to offer food aid to the North valued at between $21 million and $23 million via the WFP by the end of June.