Four days after it resumed its annual rice aid to North Korea, South Korea pledged another $13 million to help improve basic health services for infants and nursing mothers in its neighboring country. “We decided to send 13 million dollars in aid to North Korean children at the request of related agencies,” said South Korean Vice Unification Minister Shin Un-Sang. The United Nations warned of the irreversible damages that insufficient health care had on infants, noting that North Korean youths are already shorter and lighter than their counterparts in South Korea. Of the package, $9.38 million will go to the World Health Organization, $3.15 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund and $500,000 to the International Vaccine Institute. The funds will be used to renovate medical facilities, develop the skills of health workers and supply food and vaccines.
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SKorea pledges 13 mln dlrs for NKorean children (AFP)
SKorea to give US$13 million in aid to NKorean infants through UN agencies (AP)