South Korea Pledges Aid to the North
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: September 2, 2013
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea promised $8.4 million worth of aid to North Korea on Monday, a conciliatory gesture that followed recent steps toward easing inter-Korean tensions and reviving economic and humanitarian cooperation.
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The South Korean government will provide $6.3 million to help finance the World Health Organization’s efforts to improve medical service for malnourished infants and other children in North Korea, the Unification Ministry of South Korea said in a statement. Separately, 12 South Korean private relief groups will be allowed to send a total of $2.1 million worth of medical supplies, baby formula, vitamins, soy milk, stationery and shoes for North Korean children.
The developments followed the two Koreas’ agreement last month to restart a program that reunites family members who were separated by the Korean War six decades ago. The next reunions are scheduled to begin on Sept. 25.
The family reunion program, which began in the 1980s, was halted in 2010 when inter-Korean relations were deteriorating. Relations soured further after the North tested a nuclear device this February. But hopes for a thaw on the divided Korean Peninsula have grown in recent weeks.
In July, the South approved a total of $7.3 million in aid for children and pregnant women in the North, to be delivered through Unicef and direct shipments by private aid groups. Last month, North and South Korea agreed to reopen the jointly operated Kaesong industrial park, which had been idled since the North pulled its workers out in April.
Despite international aid and gradual improvements in its grain production in recent years, North Korea still experiences dire food shortages. Nearly 28 percent of North Korean children under 5 years old suffer from chronic malnutrition, according to United Nations surveys.
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