South Korea today said it would provide 26 billion won for humanitarian projects in North Korea, the second donation this month to its communist neighbour amid easing relations. The unification ministry said it would donate 15.2 billion won to the World Health Organization's programme for malnourished children and 4.7 billion won to the UN Children's Fund UNICEF. Spokesman Chun Hae-Sung said some six billion won has been allocated for a variety of other projects run by private groups. He told a briefing that Seoul decided to assist North Korean infants and children through private and international organisations, after considering the urgent situation in the country. On December 18 the South shipped swine flu medication worth 15 million dollars to the North. It was the first direct aid to Pyongyang from Seoul's conservative government since it took office in February 2008.