S. 5257 — Enhancing North Korea Humanitarian Assistance Act of 2026

This section makes findings on the humanitarian situation in North Korea, including that roughly 11,800,000 people need food assistance and 10,400,000 need nutrition and basic services as of 2025, more than 45 percent are undernourished, one-third of household drinking water is contaminated, and tuberculosis burdens are among the world's highest. It further finds that U.S. sanctions, licensing requirements, and travel restrictions, along with actions by the 1718 Sanctions Committee and other governments, create barriers to aid delivery by nongovernmental organizations.

This section expresses the sense of Congress that national governments and multilateral authorities must mitigate sanctions delays to enable humanitarian relief to North Korea, that the Department of the Treasury should issue timely responses to specific license requests, that sanctions enforcement should prioritize activities such as ship-to-ship transfers, cyberattacks, and forced labor abroad, that financial institutions should weigh the costs of impeding aid delivery, and that the Department of State’s travel ban for humanitarian missions is inconsistent with the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 as of July 2026.

This section requires the Secretary of the Treasury, within 90 days of enactment, to eliminate pre-activity reporting requirements under the North Korea Sanctions Regulations and replace them with a post-activity reporting process for humanitarian assistance. It excludes personal computers and related peripherals used by nongovernmental organizations for authorized humanitarian activities from the definition of luxury goods, and directs the Secretary of Commerce to amend the Export Administration Regulations accordingly within 90 days. It also requires the Secretary of the Treasury to issue clarifying guidance within 120 days and submit reports every 120 days on denied or delayed license requests and streamlining efforts.

This section directs the Secretary of State to instruct the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to urge the United Nations to extend the period for humanitarian exemptions from the 1718 Sanctions Committee to one year and remove the limit on exemption applications per organization per year, apply expedited approval processes used during the COVID–19 pandemic to other critical requests such as those addressing urgent needs identified in United Nations reports on North Korea, and reduce the burden of exemption applications for nongovernmental organizations. It also requires the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees every 180 days, beginning 90 days after enactment, on denied or delayed exemptions, foreign government actions impeding approved humanitarian assistance, and efforts to establish banking channels for such assistance.

This section directs the Secretary of State to brief the appropriate congressional committees, no later than 90 days after enactment and every 120 days thereafter, on the number of requests for special validation to travel to North Korea, any requests pending 60 days or longer with explanations for delays, and any denials during the reporting period with explanations for the denials.

This section defines "appropriate congressional committees" as the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Financial Services. It also defines "Export Administration Regulations" as the regulations in subchapter C of chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, and "North Korea Sanctions Regulations" as the regulations in part 510 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations.