The aid will provide medical care and vaccinations for North Korean children
South Korea is providing $ 6m (£4m) in aid to North Korea, amid deadlock over reviving the jointly-run Kaesong Industrial Complex.
South Korean officials say it is the first time in two years that government aid has been sent to North Korea.
The North, which suffered severe floods in the last two years, relies on aid to feed its people.
But the flow of aid from Seoul has been halted in recent years amid deadlock over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
The aid will be sent through the UN children’s charity Unicef, and will provide vaccines, medical care and food for children.
The pledge marks a change in tone between the two nations after months of political stalemate, the BBC’s Lucy Williamson in Seoul reports.
However, relations between the two countries remain mired in mistrust, our correspondent adds.
Talks on resuming operations at the joint Kaesong industrial zone ended in deadlock over Seoul’s insistence that Pyongyang agree not to unilaterally close the complex again.
The zone has been closed since April, when North Korea withdrew its workers.
The closure came amid high tensions on the peninsula in the wake of North Korea’s 12 February nuclear test and then annual US-South Korea military drills.
Pyongyang has not responded to Seoul’s offer on 29 July of “final talks” on restarting the zone.
On Wednesday, about 500 South Korean workers and factory owners rallied near the inter-Korean border at Panju, demanding the park be reopened.
N Korea proposes Kaesong talks
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