U.N. grants sanctions exemption for humanitarian aid to N. Korea

SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Yonhap) -- The U.N. Security Council has granted a sanctions exemption for an international aid group's plan to provide North Korea with medical equipment and other items as humanitarian assistance.

A U.N. committee handling sanctions on North Korea granted the waiver request from Handicap International on Friday, allowing the shipment of equipment for the group's project to reduce the occurence of disabilities in children, according to the committee's website.

The list of goods approved for shipment includes mats and tables, as well as electronic medical items for testing hearing function and bicycles to be used by doctors for home visits. In total, the items are worth US$109,390.

"Material will be used to provide early intervention and functional rehabilitation service to newborn and children with disabilities under supervision of technical expert hired by Handicap International," an attachment in English on the website showed.

The latest approval raised the total number of humanitarian exemptions related to North Korea currently in effect to seven. The exemptions are valid for six months.

Humanitarian activities are not banned under international sanctions, but related materials are subject to sanctions waivers from the U.N.

Aid organizations have said that multilayered sanctions imposed on North Korea for its nuclear provocations are affecting their operations through a disruption of banking channels, a breakdown in supply chains and delays in the transportation of goods.

scaaet@yna.co.kr
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