August 17, 2011 11:01
In the first seven months of this year, the international community has almost doubled the amount of aid it sent to North Korea for all of 2010.
More than US$45 million was spent from January to July, an increase of 183 percent from the whole of last year, said Voice of America, which cited the Seoul-based Korea Rural Economic Institute.
The biggest beneficiaries were women and children, who received $33 million as of July, up from $20 million for all of 2010. Medical supplies were the second-biggest form of aid at $6 million.
The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund has proven the most generous donor this year, spending roughly $15 million, while the United States has refrained from sending any aid in 2011 as bilateral relations have hit another rocky patch.
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