Seoul OKs Eugene Bell Foundation's bid to send TB medications, other materials to North Korea
SEOUL, June 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unification ministry has approved the Eugene Bell Foundation Korea's application to send medications for tuberculosis and materials to build hospital wards to North Korea, an official said Tuesday.
It marked the first approval by the Seoul government for a shipment to the North under the liberal administration of President Moon Jae-in.
The shipment approved Monday is valued at 1.9 billion won (US$1.7 million), including medication worth 1.5 billion won and construction materials worth 350 million won, the ministry added.
The ministry approved the foundation's shipment of medical aid three times after North Korea conducted the fourth nuclear test in January 2016 under Moon's conservative predecessor. But it did not allow construction materials to be sent to the North on concerns that they can be converted to use for weapons.
It marked the first time that Seoul granted the foundation's delivery of construction materials to the North since August 2015.
The ministry said that it has reviewed the application on the grounds that it will flexibly consider the resumption of civilian inter-Korean exchanges to the extent that the move does not compromise the international sanctions regime.
"(The approval was made on the basis that) tuberculosis is a disease necessary for consistent treatment, and the shipment does not have a risk of being misused and monitoring will continue," a ministry official said.
The shipment will be transported to North Korea's western port city of Nampo via China in July.
Construction materials will be used to build 20 wards capable of holding some 200 patients, the ministry said. It said that the delivery of such items is not subject to a set of sanctions against Pyongyang imposed on May 24, 2010, over the sinking of a South Korean warship.
The foundation has long provided medical humanitarian assistance to North Korea, especially for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
In May, Seoul announced the resumption of civilian inter-Korean exchanges in line with Moon's dual-track approach of denuclearizing North Korea and seeking dialogue and engagement with the North.
But North Korea has turned down South Korean civic groups' move to resume exchanges in protest of Seoul's support of the latest United Nations sanctions.
Source:
Yonhap News Agency
