Seoul OKs civilian contact over malaria aid measures

SEOUL: South Korea will allow a civic group to contact North Korea over aid programmes, the first such approval since North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January 2016, Seoul officials said yesterday.

The announcement is a sign that the liberal government led by new President Moon Jae-in is trying to restart stalled civilian aid and exchange programmes as a way to improve strained ties with rival North Korea. Mr Moon’s conservative predecessor, Park Geun-hye, hadn’t endorsed any civilian contacts since the North’s fourth nuclear test.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said the Seoul-based Korean Sharing Movement would be allowed to communicate with North Korea to discuss how to deal with malaria in North Korea.

“While the new government maintains a stance of firmly responding to North Korean provocations like missile launches, it’s also clear that the current severance in ties between the South and North isn’t ideal for stabilising the situation in the Korean Peninsula,” ministry spokeswoman Lee Eugene said.

The civic group said it will contact North Korea via email to try to provide North Korea with insecticides, diagnostic reagent kits and mosquito repellants and nets. Group official Kang Young-sik said his agency will try to get another government approval to visit North Korea to convey such items if Pyongyang accepts its overture.

The two Koreas remain divided along the world’s most heavily fortified border. Their citizens are barred from exchanging phone calls, letters and emails without government permissions.

Since taking office earlier in May, Mr Moon’s government has said it will flexibly evaluate expanding civilian exchange with North Korea though it will strongly cope with North Korean military threats. But many analysts say Mr Moon won’t likely push for any major rapprochement projects because North Korea has gone too far on its nuclear programme.

North Korea conducted two ballistic missile test-launches since Mr Moon’s May 10 inauguration. It’s pushing to build a nuclear-tipped missile that can reach the continental US, and as part of the goal the North carried out two nuclear tests last year — in January and September.