SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's execution of its inter-Korean cooperation fund remained below 10 percent last year for the fourth straight year, government data showed Sunday.

   Last year, the government spent 69.4 billion won (US$65.2 million), or 6.9 percent of the 1.006 trillion won set aside for the inter-Korean cooperation fund, according to the data from the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.

   The fund was created in 1991 to support humanitarian and economic exchanges between the divided Koreas, which remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce.

   Funding for inter-Korean projects has been low since the Lee Myung-bak administration took office in 2008 with a hardline stance toward the North's nuclear weapons program.

   In 2008, the fund's execution rate plunged to 18.1 percent from 82.2 percent the previous year. The rate has since hovered below 10 percent, at 7.6 percent in 2009, 7.7 percent in 2010 and 4.2 percent in 2011.

   Last year, the fund was used to support construction projects in the inter-Korean industrial complex in the North's border city of Kaesong, as well as for financial aid and loans for inter-Korean businesses, humanitarian projects and the construction of an inter-Korean youth exchange center.

   hague@yna.co.kr
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