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.