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No Thanks! North Declines Another South Korean Medical Aid Shipment

© AP Photo / Wong Maye-ENorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen in silhouette as he waves during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen in silhouette as he waves during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea - Sputnik International
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After Seoul expressed support for expanded sanctions on Pyongyang by the US and the UN, North Korea has snubbed another South Korean offer of humanitarian aid to the increasingly isolated northern country.

According to reports, the Korean Sharing Movement, a non-governmental group seeking to reinstate ties between the two nations by delivering medical and agricultural aid, has been refused permission to deliver the supplies to the People's Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK), following the implementation of tough new sanctions against Pyongyang, according to Yonhap.

A H-IIA rocket, carrying a Michibiki 2 satellite, one of four satellites that will augment regional navigational systems, lifts off from the launching pad at Tanegashima Space Center on the southwestern island of Tanegashima, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo June 1, 2017. - Sputnik International
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"We've decided to put off our plans to deliver the supplies' shipments and to visit North Korea for cooperation," said Kang Young-sik, the group's secretary-general, after the DPRK learned of South Korea's support for the UN sanction decree.

On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to sanction an additional 14 high-profile North Korean officials and several state-run business entities, in light of continued ballistic missile testing by Pyongyang.

The sanctions include global travel bans and asset freezes.

The ongoing hostilities and military posturing are likely to make engagement with Pyongyang by South Korea's newly elected liberal President Moon Jae-in difficult, if not impossible, given the current poisonous bilateral climate.

Since Moon took office in May his administration, unlike the previous leadership which cut off all ties due to nuclear testing, has allowed 15 requests by local non-governmental organizations to implement exchanges between the two Koreas.

Those offers of aid have been consistently rebuffed by Pyongyang.

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