The UN Security Council has granted sanctions exemptions to the World Health Organization (WHO) and two nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to provide North Korea with humanitarian assistance, including aid for food security and access to clean water. 



A UN committee handling sanctions on North Korea granted the waivers for the WHO as well as for the Irish NGO Concern Worldwide and the German NGO Deutsche Welthungerhilfe earlier this month, according to the committee's website.

The list of items approved for the WHO includes decontamination kits and radio communications equipment for the safety of its staff stationed in the impoverished country, the website showed.

For the Irish and German humanitarian groups, the UN allowed the delivery of equipment for food security and provision of safe drinking water to North Koreans.

The approvals raised the total number of humanitarian exemptions related to North Korea currently in effect to 15. The exemptions are valid for six months.

Humanitarian activities are not banned under international sanctions, but related materials are subject to sanctions waivers from the UN.

(Yonhap)