South Korea's unification ministry said Monday that a humanitarian aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) should be treated separately from sanctions and pressure, reiterating its earlier position.
Unification Ministry spokesman Baek Tae-hyun told a press briefing that the government's basic stance was to keep the humanitarian aid to the vulnerable group of people in the DPRK, such as infants and pregnant women, regardless of political situations.
The spokesman said the Moon Jae-in government's basic stance was not different from the international society's as well as the ones held by former South Korean governments.
Tensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula after the DPRK's test last Friday of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).
It followed Pyongyang's sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3, which was believed to have been the most powerful one ever conducted by the country.
The UN Security Council this month unanimously adopted a new resolution toughening sanctions on the DPRK, which curtails the country's oil imports, bans all of its textile exports and prohibits further work permits abroad for DPRK workers.
