The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) has approved a sanctions exemption request from South Korea’s Gyeonggi Province to ship aid to North Korea, according to a notice posted by the U.N.

But Seoul’s unification ministry told NK News that despite receiving the green light from the UNSC, the province did not request approval from the ROK government to send the materials for a water purification plant as required by law.

Gyeonggi Province’s exemption marks the first time a South Korean government body has received UNSC permission to send aid since Seoul seemingly stopped approving domestic inter-Korean aid requests last year. 

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