South Korean civic groups have resumed sending humanitarian aid supplies to North Korea, which was suspended shortly after the North’s long-range rocket launch in April.

A Unification Ministry official said it has recently approved the Korean Sharing Movement's plans to send construction materials for the repair of a maternity hospital in Nampo. A ship carrying the repair materials left for the North on Thursday.

The civic groups will also send soy beans to North Korean soy milk plants to feed children in Pyongyang, as well as construction materials to repair the People’s Hospital in Daean, South Pyeongan Province.

In the wake of Pyongyang’s rocket launch and second nuclear test, the government banned sending aid to the North except for urgent medical supplies or basic necessities. Recently, Seoul decided to gradually lift the ban.