The United Nations Security Council(UNSC) has granted a sanctions exemption to a South Korean non-governmental organization(NGO) that provides charcoal briquette-making machines to North Korea.

In a post on its website, the UNSC’s North Korea sanctions committee said that it approved the delivery of the machines on April 5 after receiving an application from the Seoul-based group "Coal Briquettes for Neighbors in Korea."

The committee explained the aid is to help prevent infections of waterborne and foodborne illnesses in vulnerable residents of Goseong, North Korea, referencing the apparent use of the briquettes to heat drinking water and food.

A total of 173 machine parts have received the exemption and will be transported from South Korea's Port of Busan to the port in Wonsan in the North. The exemption is valid for 12 months.

The NGO expects some 14-thousand North Korean households to benefit from the aid. The group, founded in 2004, also delivered briquettes to Kaesong and the Mount Geumgang area in the past.