Staying with the U.S.,... Washington has decided to loosen its restrictions on humanitarian assistance to North Korea.<br />Americans will be able to travel to the reclusive nation... and their applications to ship goods will be reviewed faster.<br />Amid these new changes, nuclear envoys of Seoul and Washington are due to hold a meeting in the coming week... to discuss humanitarian aid and nuclear negotiations.<br />Our Oh Jung-hee has this report. <br /> Washington is set to ease its restrictions on humanitarian assistance to North Korea, lifting restrictions on travel and the delivery of supplies to the North.<br />And this decision, according to the Foreign Policy on Friday, was communicated to the humanitarian aid organizations by Stephen Biegun, the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea.<br /> Biegun told these groups to re-apply for special permits to travel to the North. <br />He added... there will be a more timely review at the U.N. sanctions committee... on their applications to ship necessary supplies to the regime.<br /><br />The U.S. has been routinely delaying the export of necessary medical equipment and supplies to the North, because of lack of progress on the denuclearization front.<br /> But those, the Foreign Policy reports,... left the U.S. "diplomatically isolated" at the UN and aroused protests from UN agencies.<br />They claimed U.S. restrictions undermined their efforts to fight diseases.<br /><br /> Amid the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign against Pyeongyang, the decision to loosen restrictions on humanitarian aid to North Korea is a significant step forward.<br />However, watchers say it's unclear how Pyeongyang will respond.<br /> Also, it may take some time until the U.S. government shutdown ends... to stop the delays in shipping goods to the regime.<br />Amid the change from the U.S.,... Seoul and Washington are due to hold a video meeting of their bilateral working group next week.<br /> The session is expected to deal with humanitarian issues -- including this latest decision by the U.S.,... as well as Seoul's plan to provide 200-thousand doses of Tamiflu antiviral medication to the North.<br /> The meeting may also touch upon the possible North Korea-U.S. summit, the recent meeting between Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping,... and inter-Korean projects.<br />Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News. <br />
