Aid groups have criticized the Unification Ministry’s request that they monitor how their aid is being distributed in North Korea, saying it hampers their humanitarian efforts.

The ministry has asked the aid groups to gain consent from the North to monitor activities as part of its efforts to enhance “transparency” in the distribution process and prevent the aid being passed to the North’s military.

The groups have submitted to the ministry photos or video clips that show their aid has reached the intended destinations.

In some cases, the North refused to allow some of them to carry out the monitoring process, which aid groups say has hindered some humanitarian missions.

Since July, the Seoul government has allowed aid groups to offer a limited number of items such as flour and basic medical supplies to the impoverished state.

Before that, it banned them from providing aid to the North since May as part of its response to North Korea’s two attacks last year that killed 50 South Koreans including two civilians.

“North Korea has recently expressed its displeasure about the monitoring as they believe it has taken on some political overtones and overshadowed the pure intention of our humanitarian efforts,” a senior member of a civil aid group told The Korea Herald on condition of anonymity.

“We hope that the government takes a more flexible stance on the humanitarian support and ease the monitoring request should it want to improve the strained ties with the North.”

A ministry official said that the government’s stance is that without an agreement with the North to allow monitoring, it cannot approve the provision of aid to the North.

“We have requested that the groups state where their aid will be sent and other details in their plan and gain a monitoring agreement with the North as part of efforts to ensure that they have gone to the destination as planned,” a ministry official said.

“If they failed to get the agreement, we asked them to try again to get the agreement.”

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)