Covid-19: UN ready to make humanitarian exemptions for North Korea

Commuters wearing face masks ride a tramcar in Pyongyang on Feb 26, 2020. - AFP

UNITED NATIONS (AFP): - The UN Security Council on Thursday (Feb 27) declared that it would adopt humanitarian exemptions to the heavy economic sanctions imposed on North Korea to help the impoverished country fight the novel coronavirus, Germany's ambassador to the UN said.

"The coronavirus issue was discussed and the committee immediately had given permission to export the equipment" used to fight the illness, said Christoph Heusgen, who heads the United Nations body that applies the sanctions imposed on Pyongyang in an effort to force it to give up its ballistic and nuclear programs.