South Korea will increase its Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to more than KRW 1.1 trillion (USD$991 million) for 2019, while reducing annual spending on resettlement funds for defectors and its controversial North Korean Human Rights Foundation.

The changes — announced by the Ministry of Unification (MOU) in a new budget announcement on Tuesday — mark a 14.3 percent increase in cooperation fund spending and respective decreases of 31.6% and 92.6% for resettlement funding to defectors and human rights foundation support.

In particular, Seoul will expand financial support for inter-Korean cooperation projects by KRW138.4 billion ($125 million) next year, a substantial increase.

The MOU said