Lim Hyoung-joon, the head of the World Food Programme's Korea Office, gives a presentation about the food situation in North Korea at a forum hosted by the Korea Institute for National Unification at the Koreana Hotel in Seoul, May 30. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

The Ministry of Unification has approved a plan to send $8 million (about 9.4 billion won) worth of humanitarian assistance to North Korea through international agencies.

About $4.5 million will be allocated to the World Food Program (WFP) to support its food shipment projects, while $3.5 million will go to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) maternal and child healthcare and nutrition programs, the ministry announced Wednesday.

The unification ministry and the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council (IKECPC) made the final decision after discussions among 18 council members that includes government officials and North Korea experts from May 29 to June 5.