More aid groups authorized to help N. Korea

By Kim Young-jin

The government authorized two more groups to send humanitarian aid to North Korea, Monday, easing restrictions on such activities initially imposed over Pyongyang’s provocative behavior.

The latest packages ― from World Vision and the Join Together Society ― will send a total of $161,800 worth of powdered milk and porridge to orphanages in the impoverished country’s northeast, Ministry of Unification spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters.

The latest approvals came just four days after Seoul effectively lifted its moratorium on humanitarian aid to the North, imposed in November after Pyongyang’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.

“We will continue to review and approve private-sector aid that targets vulnerable populations such as children by considering need, transparency of distribution and urgency,” Chun said.

The work of non-governmental organizations that provide aid to the North has been severely hampered since last March, when the deadly sinking of the frigate Cheonan forced the government to impose travel restrictions to the North. Aid was halted completely after the shelling incident.

But the government on Thursday approved a request by the Eugene Bell Foundation to mobilize over $305,000 worth of tuberculosis medicine, citing the need for medical attention and appeals from the aid groups.

On Friday, it allowed the Korean Sharing Movement to send bread, milk and candy to children in the North.

Officials say the government has no plans to resume government-level aid or provide funds to private groups.

Assistance to the North has been a thorn in the side of inter-Korean relations since 2008, when the Lee Myung-bak administration made drastic cuts in food aid, tying any provisions offered by Seoul to denuclearization efforts made by Pyongyang.

A recently-released U.N. report said more than 6 million North Koreans are in dire need of food, citing a recent fact-finding mission to the communist state.