Seoul will send its first shipment of humanitarian aid to North Korea since President Park Geun-hye took office.

The government has approved a proposal by South Korean private charity Eugene Bell to send over US$600,000 worth of tuberculosis medicine to eight clinics run by the group in North Korea. The shipment is expected to be delivered in April.

The aid is strictly for humanitarian purposes.

The last such aid package to the North was shipped in November under President Lee Myung-bak last year.