The government is set to provide up to ten billion won in support to civic groups working on nutritional and health care cooperation projects with North Korea amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision was approved Friday by a committee on inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation made up of government officials and experts.

According to the Unification Ministry, up to 500 million won from the inter-Korean cooperation fund can be offered for a single project aimed at improving nutrition and health conditions for vulnerable groups in the North.

Until now, the government provided half of such project expenses to support purchasing materials and transporting items to North Korea.

Referring to the dire situation in the reclusive regime exacerbated by the prolonged pandemic, Unification Minister Lee In-young said Seoul and Washington have been jointly seeking humanitarian cooperation to reengage with Pyongyang.

The ministry, however, is uncertain whether such initiatives will actually proceed, since the groups will first need consent from the North, which remains unresponsive to humanitarian aid offers.