MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th May, 2019) South Korea plans to conclude its consultations with international humanitarian aid organizations to which it pledged to donate $8 million to help North Korea's women and children in need, South Korea's Unification Ministry said Monday.
In February, North Korea's government asked international humanitarian organizations to give it aid amid food shortages in the country. South Korea responded to the request in mid-May.
"We are planning to conclude consultations with the WFP [World Food Program] and UNICEF [UN Children's Fund] within this week," Lee Sang-min, the ministry's spokesperson, said at a press conference, as quoted by the Yonhap news outlet.
Lee added that as soon as the consultations were complete, the ministry would initiate the necessary domestic procedures, including getting official state approval for the donation transfer.
North Korea has been facing severe food shortages due to low crop production and tightened food rationing in the country. In early May, the United Nations published a report which said that more than 10 million people in North Korea did not have enough to eat.
