ID :
96215
Mon, 12/21/2009 - 23:05
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/96215
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S. Korea to resume aid for N. Korean children
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to resume cash support that will be
used to enhance the health of North Korean infants and children through U.N.
agencies early next year, officials said on Monday.
South Korea halted such assistance earlier this year shortly after the North's
nuclear test.
The policy follows some US$15 million in medications sent to the North last week
to help prevent an epidemic of the H1N1 flu virus there. The flu aid marked
Seoul's first government-to-government humanitarian assistance since President
Lee Myung-bak took power in early 2008.
"Our government is considering providing assistance to some U.N. agencies that
operate North Korea assistance programs for infants and children," Unification
Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said at a press briefing.
Chun said the scope of the aid and other details are "still under consultation,"
but ministry sources expect millions of dollars will be pulled out of the
ministry's inter-Korean cooperation fund for the assistance. Beneficiaries are
likely to be the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Health
Organization, both of which operate health care programs for those who are
nutritionally at risk in North Korea, they said.
The ministry has provided support to UNICEF, the WHO and other international
agencies with programs for North Korea since the mid-1990s, including $15.74
million provided in 2008. But such aid was put on hold for 2009 after North Korea
fired a long-range rocket and conducted a nuclear test in the spring.
"With regard to humanitarian assistance to North Korea, the government's position
is that purely humanitarian assistance should be continued," Chun said.
South Korea provided Tamiflu and other anti-viral medications for 500,000 people
to North Korea on Friday, following North Korea's admission of a flu outbreak on
Dec. 9.
The shipment came amid a flurry of diplomacy between North Korea and the United
States on ways to resume a multilateral negotiating forum on ending the North's
nuclear program.
Separately, the unification ministry plans to additionally spend 5 billion won
($4.32 million) to enhance fire equipment at a joint industrial complex in North
Korea. The project will involve renovating a fire station and increasing the
number of fire trucks to eight from five at the factory park in the North's
border town of Kaesong that hosts 106 South Korean small-size firms.
"We think its ability to deal with incidents of fire is not sufficient," Chun
said, noting that many factories there produce clothing.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to resume cash support that will be
used to enhance the health of North Korean infants and children through U.N.
agencies early next year, officials said on Monday.
South Korea halted such assistance earlier this year shortly after the North's
nuclear test.
The policy follows some US$15 million in medications sent to the North last week
to help prevent an epidemic of the H1N1 flu virus there. The flu aid marked
Seoul's first government-to-government humanitarian assistance since President
Lee Myung-bak took power in early 2008.
"Our government is considering providing assistance to some U.N. agencies that
operate North Korea assistance programs for infants and children," Unification
Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said at a press briefing.
Chun said the scope of the aid and other details are "still under consultation,"
but ministry sources expect millions of dollars will be pulled out of the
ministry's inter-Korean cooperation fund for the assistance. Beneficiaries are
likely to be the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Health
Organization, both of which operate health care programs for those who are
nutritionally at risk in North Korea, they said.
The ministry has provided support to UNICEF, the WHO and other international
agencies with programs for North Korea since the mid-1990s, including $15.74
million provided in 2008. But such aid was put on hold for 2009 after North Korea
fired a long-range rocket and conducted a nuclear test in the spring.
"With regard to humanitarian assistance to North Korea, the government's position
is that purely humanitarian assistance should be continued," Chun said.
South Korea provided Tamiflu and other anti-viral medications for 500,000 people
to North Korea on Friday, following North Korea's admission of a flu outbreak on
Dec. 9.
The shipment came amid a flurry of diplomacy between North Korea and the United
States on ways to resume a multilateral negotiating forum on ending the North's
nuclear program.
Separately, the unification ministry plans to additionally spend 5 billion won
($4.32 million) to enhance fire equipment at a joint industrial complex in North
Korea. The project will involve renovating a fire station and increasing the
number of fire trucks to eight from five at the factory park in the North's
border town of Kaesong that hosts 106 South Korean small-size firms.
"We think its ability to deal with incidents of fire is not sufficient," Chun
said, noting that many factories there produce clothing.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
