South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the government will offer $5.65 million to North Korea for humanitarian purposes through the United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF.

The donated money will be used for vaccines for children and pregnant women, medicine kits for children, instant foods, food supplements and nutrients for prevention of malnutrition.

The government said the donation will benefit about 1.46 million North Koreans.

“The decision is in line with the government’s basic stance of carrying out its pure humanitarian aid projects for vulnerable people regardless of political situation,” Unification Ministry spokesman Choi Boh-seon told reporters.

The announcement came as the inter-Korean exchange and cooperation committee including deputy ministers of the Finance Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Justice Ministry and civilian experts agreed on the use of the money.

The South Korean’s support for North Korea through UNICEF is the first since 2009.

Seoul’s move came in line with Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik’s series of actions to soften policies towards Pyongyang since his inauguration in September.

The South Korean government has appeared to be loosening its “May 24 measures,” which banned all exchanges and cooperation with the North after the South Korean warship Cheonan was sunk in March, 2010 by a North Korean torpedo attack.

In recent weeks, Yu allowed South Korean firms in the North’s Gaeseong Industrial Complex to continue productions, international aid groups to support North Koreans and South Korean scholars to visit Gaeseong for inter-Korean cultural exchanges.

The government also plans to provide 2.6 billion won for building a medical facility within the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, where South Korean companies use North Korean labor to produce manufacturing goods.

The facility will accommodate 10 wards, two doctors, two nurses, one emergency room staff and others, the Unification Ministry said.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)