SEOUL, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean government passed a resolution to contribute approximately 26 billion won (22 million U.S. dollars) on humanitarian and economic aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Ministry of Unification said in a news briefing Monday.

    The briefing said the contribution will come from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund and be distributed through international bodies and non-governmental organizations (NGO).

    The ministry said they will allocate about 13 million U.S. dollars to the World Health Organization (WHO) and nearly 4 million U.S. dollars to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in support of the two organizations' DPRK infant support projects.

    Also, a number of NGO programs will receive about 6 billion won (5.1 million U.S. dollars) to help reduce malnutrition, deliver medical aid, and enhance educational systems in the DPRK.

    Following Monday's announcement, South Korea's overall humanitarian aid to the DPRK this year will amount to 50 billion won (43 million U.S. dollars).

    The Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund was set up in the early 1990sby the South Korean government to provide economic aid and help the underprivileged in the DPRK.

    Although South Korea actively engaged itself in providing humanitarian aid to the DPRK since the mid 1990s, chilling relations between the two Koreas after conservative president Lee Myung-bak took office last year stalled most inter-Korean exchanges, as Lee asked for the North's complete denuclearization before providing any kind of economic aid.

    However, Lee shifted his stance lately as his government sent 50,000 doses of anti-viral drugs to help DPRK fight a number of recent A/H1N1 flu cases, indicating warming ties between the two countries, local media reported.