Feb 6, 2026, 2:32 p.mFeb 6, 2026, 2:32 p.m
According to a media report, the United Nations, with political support from the US government, is planning to allow humanitarian aid deliveries to North Korea again.
Seventeen humanitarian aid projects are said to have received the necessary exemption from a corresponding UN sanctions committee, as the daily newspaper “Korea Herald” reports, citing an official from the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
So far, the US government under President Donald Trump has blocked such exemptions on the grounds, among other things, that aid deliveries could be misused by the government under ruler Kim Jong Un. South Korea’s incumbent government under President Lee Jae Myung maintains that humanitarian supplies should be guaranteed regardless of political conditions.
According to the Korea Herald, the approved initiatives are aid projects led by South Korea, the USA and international organizations. North Korea is subject to far-reaching UN sanctions because of its nuclear weapons program and serious human rights violations.
Elizabeth Salmón, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea.Image: IMAGO / Newscom / Yonhap News
The humanitarian situation in North Korea remains tense. “Access to food remains a problem,” said Elizabeth Salmón, UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea, during her visit to the South Korean capital Seoul. According to a UN report published last year, almost 46 percent of the North Korean population is undernourished. (hkl/sda/dpa)