[Yonhap News Photo]
A non-governmental organization was allowed to contact North Korea for the resumption of medical aid to combat malaria, nearly 17 months after
South Korea suspended almost all civilian inter-Korean exchanges in retaliation for a nuclear test.
The green light was given Friday to the Korean Sharing Movement, which was formed in 1997 by South Korean religious and civic groups to send food and other aid to the impoverished North, the Unification Ministry said. The group plans to send a delegation to Pyongyang at around June 10.
The trip opens the door for the resumption of cross-border civilian exchanges as the ministry pledged "flexibility" in allowing humanitarian aid to North Korea. Currently, 19 civic groups wait for government approval to resume humanitarian and other projects in the North.
Relations were strained in March 2010 when Seoul blamed a North Korean submarine for torpedoing the warship Cheonan. The incident froze cross-border exchanges and trade, and South Korea suspended almost all civilian inter-Korean exchanges since North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January 2016.
The ministry said the timely shipment of medical aid is needed to prevent malaria infections among South and North Korean residents living near the heavily armed border.
Malaria was eradicated on the Korean peninsula three decades ago but emerged again in the 1990s when North Korea was battered by a series of natural disasters and famines. Mosquitoes carrying the virus have crossed the border to infect hundreds each year in the South.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
