Seoul approves private humanitarian aid to North Korea

South Korea endorsed private humanitarian aid to North Korea on Monday, an official said, in the latest assistance to Pyongyang despite lingering tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The two private aid groups are allowed to ship nutritional and medical supplies worth 240 million won ($227,000) to infants, children and people suffering from tuberculosis in the North, unification ministry spokesman Kim Eyi-do told reporters.

The planned aid brought the total amount of assistance to the North from South Korea’s private aid groups to 6.8 billion won since February, when President Park Geun-hye took office in Seoul. (Yonhap News)