N. Korea launch won't affect humanitarian aid

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SEOUL, April 18 (UPI) -- North Korea's botched rocket launch will not stop Seoul from providing humanitarian aid to Pyongyang, a South Korean official said Wednesday.

Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik said that in addition to providing its own aid, South Korea will continue to permit private agencies to do so, the Korea Times reported.

However, he said the international community and South Korea's allies would take necessary punitive action against the North for the failed rocket launch that violated a United Nations Security Council resolution.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met with an advisory panel of security experts Wednesday to discuss the matter, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.

Participants said Lee provided a positive assessment of China for joining the Security Council in adopting a presidential statement Monday condemning the April 13 launch.