Last Year, Humanitarian Aid to North Korea 'Zero (0)'... Completely Cut Off for the First Time in 30 Years

Last year, humanitarian aid to North Korea was completely cut off. This is the first time since 1995 that humanitarian aid to North Korea, carried out by both the government and private sectors, has been halted.

On the 16th, the birthday of North Korean National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il, Kaepung County, Hwanghaebuk-do, North Korea, shrouded in fog as seen from Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. February 16, 2025. Photo by Yonhap News.

According to the "Summary of Humanitarian Aid to North Korea" compiled by the Ministry of Unification on the 5th, there was no financial support from either the government or private sectors last year. Humanitarian aid funds to North Korea recorded 27.7 billion KRW in 2019 (10.6 billion KRW from the government + 17 billion KRW from private sectors), but sharply declined every year after the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. The amounts decreased to 14.9 billion KRW in 2020, 3.1 billion KRW in 2021, 2.6 billion KRW in 2022, and 1 billion KRW in 2023, before being completely cut off last year.

South Korea's humanitarian aid to North Korea began in 1995. At that time, when North Korea was suffering from severe food shortages due to flood damage, South Korea provided 150,000 tons of rice to North Korea. In the 2000s, humanitarian aid funds increased to the scale of hundreds of billions of KRW, peaking at 439.7 billion KRW in 2007. However, as North Korea's nuclear and missile development intensified, humanitarian aid from both the government and private sectors gradually decreased.

The last government-level humanitarian aid was 1.2 billion KRW worth of forest pest control pesticides in December 2018. Support through international organizations ceased after the World Food Programme (WFP) provided 11.8 billion KRW worth of food aid to North Korea in 2020. However, it is known that this aid has not yet been executed because North Korea refused the support.

Despite various ups and downs in inter-Korean relations over the years, private-sector humanitarian aid, which had continued without interruption, last amounted to 800 million KRW in 2023, and no aid was provided last year.