유엔대북제재위, 1월에만 10곳에 인도적 지원 제재 면제 허가... 한국 타미플루 지원은 언제?
So far this year, 10 organizations around the world got the green light to send humanitarian aid items into the North, mainly thanks to America's changing stance on sanctioning the regime.
However, South Korea has not been able to deliver Tamiflu across the border.
According to our Oh Jung-hee, concerns are rising that Seoul may miss the optimal timeframe to administer the drugs.
More and more organizations around the world are getting the okay to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea... but South Korea is still facing difficulties.
In only January this year, ten aid organizations received exemptions from the UN Security Council's North Korea sanctions... to bring humanitarian aid-related items into the North.
These include UNICEF, the International Federation of the Red Cross, World Vision International... and other NGOs from several countries.
This is in stark contrast to 2018... when there were only two such cases.
Such a change comes after the U.S. turned positive towards providing humanitarian aid to North Korea late last year.
Visiting Seoul for a South Korea-U.S. working group meeting in December,... Stephen Biegun, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, announced:
"Toward that end, upon my return to Washington next week, I've been directed by Secretary Pompeo to review U.S. policy on humanitarian assistance provided to the DPRK by private and religious American organizations."
According to Voice of America on Friday, Washington is indeed reviewing its policy on sanctions waivers and travel exemptions.
The State Department said... the U.S. is deeply concerned about the well-being of the North Korean people.
But amid the turnaround, South Korea has struggled to provide its own humanitarian aid to the North.
Since late last year, Seoul has planned to provide 200-thousand doses of Tamiflu antiviral medication to Pyeongyang... but the delivery was delayed as the U.S. reportedly said... trucks crossing the border to deliver the drugs could violate UN sanctions.
Now, the Seoul government says things have been resolved and there are only logistics issues to be sorted out with the North.
But there are concerns that as time goes by, Seoul may miss the most effective time to deliver the medication.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
