Seoul green-lights first private aid delivery to North Korea this year | NK News
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September 20, 2026Sep 20, 2026

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Seoul green-lights first private aid delivery to North Korea this year

Approval comes after Yoon tells unification ministry not to spend ‘single penny’ on DPRK aid sans denuclearization

South Korea’s unification ministry approved a private organization’s request to send around $180,000 worth of humanitarian aid to North Korea, the ministry announced Tuesday, marking the first such approval this year.

The announcement comes just a week after President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the ministry not to spend “a single penny” on Pyongyang until it abandons its nuclear weapons program.

The goods, amounting to $182,376 (240 million won), will provide food and nutrition for vulnerable populations in North Korea. As in past instances, the ministry declined to name the organization involved to increase the chances that the DPRK accepts the aid.