Yoon gov't OKs civic group's plan for aid to N. Korea for 1st time

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has approved a civic group's plan to send nutritional aid to North Korea, a unification ministry official said Wednesday, the first such decision under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration launched in May.

"Last month, we approved a civilian group's application for assistance related to nutritional materials," the official said, without providing details, such as the name of the group.

The ministry has already approved seven similar requests from aid organizations this year.

Since taking office four months ago, the Yoon government has pledged to actively cooperate with the North on the humanitarian front regardless of political and military situations.

But it remains unclear whether the reclusive regime has received the assistance amid pandemic-induced border controls and chilly inter-Korean relations.

Cross-border exchanges remain stalled since a no-deal summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and then U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi in 2019. Pyongyang has not responded to Seoul's repeated offers for cooperation and dialogue.

julesyi@yna.co.kr
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