The UN Security Council has granted a sanctions exemption for a U.S.-based charity group to deliver medical aid to North Korea.

In a special statement on Friday, the Eugene Bell Foundation said it received the exemption from the Security Council's North Korean sanctions committee earlier in the day, which it had applied for in February. 

The foundation said all of the items related to its prefabricated tuberculosis isolation wards, which were manufactured by a South Korean company, have been approved for delivery to the North.

It asked the South Korean government to expedite export permits required for the shipment and help ensure that it will encounter no difficulties in sending the shipment to North Korea in time for its visit to the North in the spring. 

The foundation provides medical humanitarian assistance in North Korea, especially for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.