Debates at the UN Security Council Summit in 2017 (123rf)

A United Nations Security Council committee on North Korea sanctions has approved a sanctions exemption for a US-based aid group to send spine-related rehabilitation equipment to the impoverished country, its website showed Wednesday.

Under the decision, Ignis Community will be exempt from UN sanctions to send medical and rehabilitation equipment for the Pyongyang Spine and Rehabilitation Centre.

The equipment, which includes decompression tables, treadmills and electric hospital beds, is worth a total of $506,408.

The UN panel, tasked with overseeing sanctions measures imposed against the North, issued the approval on Aug. 12 and the exemption will be effective for nine months.

It remains unclear when the equipment will be delivered to the North as the reclusive country maintains strict border controls against COVID-19. (Yonhap)