South Korea Pledges Aid to North in Bid to Ease Tension SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea promised $8.4 million worth of aid to North Korea on Monday, a conciliatory gesture that follows recent steps toward easing inter-Korean tensions and reviving economic and humanitarian cooperation. The South Korean government will provide $6.3 million to help finance the World Health Organization's efforts to improve medical service for malnourished infants and children in North Korea, the Unification Ministry of South Korea said in a statement. Separately, Seoul will allow 12 South Korean private relief groups to send a total of $2.1 million worth of medical supplies, baby formula, vitamins, soy milk, stationery and shoes for North Korean children. The developments follow the two Koreas" agreement last month to restart a program that reunites family members who were separated by the Korean War six decades ago. The next reunions are scheduled to begin on Sept. The family reunion program, which began in the 1980s, was scuttled in 2010 amid souring inter-Korean relations. Ties deteriorated further after the North tested a nuclear device in February. But hopes for a thaw on the divided Korean Peninsula have grown in recent weeks. In July, the South approved a total of $7.3 million in aid for children and pregnant women in the North, through Unicef and in direct shipments by private aid groups. Last month, North and South Korea agreed to reopen the jointly operated Kaesong industrial park, which had been idled since the North pulled its workers out in April. North Korea still experiences dire food shortages despite international aid and gradual improvements in grain production in recent years. Nearly 28 percent of North Korean children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition, according to United Nations surveys.