The Trump administration plans to authorize the delivery of international aid to North Korea, opening the door to humanitarian aid after a month-long standoff during which dictator Kim Jong Un deepened ties with Russia and China.
The Trump administration plans to authorize the delivery of international aid to North KoreaAll humanitarian aid to North Korea requires special permission from the UN Sanctions Committee, where the US has frozen approvals for months due to concerns about the diversion of aid supplies. The United States will now release any hold on sanctions relief, according to people familiar with the matter, paving the way for international assistance.
Over the past year, Kim has sent North Korean troops to fight on Russia’s side in its Ukraine war, met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, rejected calls for denuclearization and ignored a pitch by President Trump for a face-to-face meeting.
The reintroduction of aid approvals would not necessarily improve relations with the Kim regime, which has shown a lack of interest in engaging with the United States or South Korea in recent years, despite Trump’s decision and the election last year of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who has sought to improve relations with Pyongyang.
In 2024, North Korea rejected international aid for a flood that displaced thousands. North Korea’s rejection of any aid from South Korea brought cross-border humanitarian aid to zero last year for the first time in three decades.
South Korea allowed the US move as a gesture of goodwill that could serve as a starting point for engagement with North Korea, a South Korean official said.
A US official familiar with the move said the decision to resume US aid delivery was not designed as a gesture towards North Korea. The Trump administration is completing an aid review that served as a de facto block on aid to North Korea, the official said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Humanitarian waiver requests for aid to North Korea have been stalled since July, according to a report by the National Committee on North Korea, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group that acts as an advocate for aid groups working in North Korea.
The group said Russian humanitarian agencies were increasingly filling roles held by U.S. groups and described the freeze as a lost opportunity to build trust between the U.S. and North Korea.
UN sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear and weapons programs do not expressly prohibit humanitarian aid. International aid workers have left North Korea during the Covid pandemic and have struggled to resume operations in the country.
The Food and Agriculture Organization chief’s visit to Pyongyang in July 2024 was the last known visit by UN humanitarian officials.
Write to Dasl Yoon dasl.yoon@wsj.com
