Pyongyang, North Korea – The United Nations has granted exemptions to its sanctions, allowing humanitarian aid agencies to provide assistance to North Korea, Radio Free Asia reported on Monday.

The UN Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee approved requests from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in December.

As a result, UNICEF and FAO are set to deliver approved aid supplies by December 3 and 20, respectively. UNICEF plans to send steel plates and wire worth $4,900 for water, sanitation, and hygiene projects in North Korea, while FAO will provide tractors, pipes, tarpaulins, and other agricultural supplies valued at $158,550 to improve livestock feed production and wheat and barley cultivation in cooperative farms.

However, UN agency staff, who were evacuated from North Korea in March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have yet to return. UNICEF told RFA earlier this month that it had "no information on the possibility of staff returning to North Korea."

Similarly, the Christian Friends of Korea (CFK), a U.S.-based aid group operating in North Korea with UN approval, reported in its newsletter that it had been unable to obtain permission to visit the country despite ongoing efforts. The group has temporarily stored medical supplies and protein powder in the United States and the Dominican Republic.

In July 2022, Qu Dongyu, the Director-General of the FAO, became the first head of a UN agency to visit North Korea since the country imposed strict border closures due to COVID-19.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Financial Tracking Service, approximately $2.8 million in humanitarian aid was provided to North Korea last year.