The World Health Organization (WHO) was reportedly granted an exemption from North Korea sanctions for disease control experiment equipment and other items. This is the first exemption approval this year.
According to Voice of America (VOA) on the 21st, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Sanctions Committee on North Korea approved on the 3rd an exemption from sanctions for humanitarian aid supplies to North Korea that the WHO applied for.
The sanctioned items exempted include 20 categories such as a carbon dioxide incubator, test tube centrifuge, vertical autoclave, and various laboratory equipment, as well as reagents and kits related to PCR testing. The total is reportedly about $63,000 (about 92 million won).
The Sanctions Committee said the sanctions are not intended to negatively affect North Korean residents, and noted that while member states should fully implement the relevant sanctions, they should ensure that humanitarian activities are not unduly restricted.
The Sanctions Committee operates a sanctions exemption process for humanitarian aid. However, for about nine months until early this month following the launch of President Donald Trump's second term, no exemptions were approved. A U.S. backlash is known to be the backdrop.
Recently, the Sanctions Committee reportedly granted exemptions in one batch for 17 cases in which the WHO and others had applied for extensions but had been pending.
However, even with the committee's approval of a sanctions exemption, actual entry depends on North Korea. North Korea has been rejecting most humanitarian assistance from the international community even after lifting its border closure.