Sanctions against North Korea that have been in place since the DPRK attacked and killed dozens of South Korean sailors in 2010 are no longer effective, Seoul’s unification ministry said Monday.

The so-called May 24 measures were sanctions implemented in 2010 after North Korea fired a torpedo at the ROK Navy’s Cheonan near the inter-Korean maritime border, sinking the corvette and killing 46 on board. On paper, the sanctions banned inter-Korean economic cooperation, forbade North Korean vessels from entering South Korean waters and suspended humanitarian aid “in principle.”

On Monday, South Korea’s unification ministry announced these