North Korea has contacted several major international agencies to complain that sanctions are hindering the delivery of humanitarian supplies.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency reports Kim Hyong-hun, vice chief of the public health ministry, sent out letters this week to the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Health Organization and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Kim's letters complain of what he calls "U.S. pressure under the pretext of the U.N. sanctions resolution," and urged the UN organizations to take thorough measures to ensure the needed supplies get through.

Some in South Korea are challenging Pyongyang's credibility on the issue of humanitarian deliveries, since it recently rejected a visit by a South Korean civic group to deliver antimalarial medical supplies. 

The North cited Seoul's support of the latest UN sanctions as the reason for rejecting the malaria aid. 

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