The United Nations Security Council's North Korea Sanctions Committee has approved the World Health Organization's request to deliver aid supplies to North Korea, marking the first sanctions exemption granted this year.
According to Voice of America on the 21st, the Sanctions Committee approved on the 3rd the shipment of WHO laboratory equipment for epidemic prevention and control, as well as vaccines for disease prevention.
The exempted items include 20 types of goods: laboratory equipment such as CO2 incubators, benchtop centrifuges, vertical autoclaves, biosafety cabinets, vacuum dryers, and voltage stabilizers, along with reagents and kits for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. The total value amounts to approximately $63,000 (about 92 million won).
The approval was made pursuant to Paragraph 25 of UN Security Council Resolution 2397, which permits "humanitarian exceptions" for humanitarian assistance or food despite sanctions on North Korea. The Sanctions Committee emphasized that "North Korea sanctions are not intended to have negative effects on the North Korean people." It also urged member states to "faithfully implement relevant sanctions while ensuring humanitarian activities are not excessively restricted."
Despite the approval, whether North Korea will actually accept the supplies remains uncertain. While North Korea reopened its borders following the COVID-19 pandemic, Pyongyang has rejected international humanitarian aid, emphasizing "self-reliance."