South Koreans successfully sent items to North Korea on just four separate occasions last year, the fewest such instances since 2017, as Pyongyang continues to enforce rigid anti-pandemic border controls.

The data comes from a unification ministry white paper published on Thursday, an annual report that details the past year of inter-Korean developments. 

The transfers involved “non-commercial” transactions — a category that includes governmental or private sector aid, social and cultural exchanges. The ministry told NK News it does not reveal details on what the transferred goods were or which actors were involved.

Few private groups in South Korea have