A government official says that South Korea is reviewing ways to resume suspended civic aid to North Korea.

The official says aid items that were withheld from entering the North in the wake of the North's shelling of South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island last year could be the first to be approved.

The official says that Seoul, in principle, allows humanitarian aid provision for North Koreans who are particularly vulnerable. The official added that the South Korean government is considering all aspects including the North's economic situation.

Following the Yeonpyeong shelling last November, South Korea retrieved all aid items from the Red Cross and temporarily suspended two-point-seven billion won worth of relief supplies to the North, including flour prepared by South Korean civic groups.

The nation’s civic groups have continuously asked the government to allow their aid provision to North Korea.