Amendment to the Rules on Humanitarian Assistance and Cooperation Programs for North Korea

Amendment to the Rules on Humanitarian Assistance and Cooperation Programs for North Korea
- Designating local governments as the operators of aid programs for North Korea -

Local governments have actively participated in humanitarian cooperation with North Korea since 1999, and they continue to plan various cooperation projects. Taking this into consideration, the Ministry of Unification is amending the Rules on Humanitarian Assistance and Cooperation Programs for North Korea to better facilitate local government efforts.

Local governments (17 upper-level and 226 lower-level local governments) shall be collectively designated as the operators of aid programs for North Korea, and no application procedures shall be required. They may obtain funding for their aid programs for North Korea from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund if necessary.

In order to improve cooperation between the Unification Ministry and local governments, the Minister of Unification shall notify the head of an appropriate administrative agency within seven days from the date when a report on shipments is received for aid programs by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive local government subsidies.

The Government hopes this amendment will systematically improve cooperation between the central and local governments and NGOs, further increasing inter-Korean humanitarian cooperation.

It will continue to render necessary support so that local governments can effectively carry out humanitarian cooperation programs for North Korea, which directly affect the lives of the people of the two Koreas.