Unification ministry to scale up financial support for N. Korea aid groups

The unification ministry said Thursday it will allow North Korea aid groups to receive state financial support multiple times a year in an effort to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the impoverished nation.

Currently, local nongovernmental organizations providing aid to the North can each receive financial support from the ministry once a year. The aid groups are also required to self-finance at least 50 percent of the costs for projects subject to state support.

The ministry said it has revised the regulation to allow financial support to the groups up to three times a year, with the exception of projects that overlap with existing ones.

It has also eased the requirement for self-financing from the previous 50 percent to 30 percent.

"We hope the revision boosts the nongovernmental organizations' humanitarian cooperation projects in North Korea and improves the effectiveness of the projects," the ministry said in a press release.

The ministry plans to issue the revised regulation on Jan. 4. (Yonhap)