A total of 25,000 masks will be delivered to Korean independence fighters who engaged in military and diplomatic campaigns against Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula, to help them combat the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Patriots and War Veterans said Monday.

About 500 fighters and bereaved families in 15 countries will receive the supplies with a letter of gratitude from the minister.

The ministry has been assisting independence fighters and war veterans to cope with the outbreak since February, when the first shipment of masks and hand sanitizer was sent to independence fighters and their descendants living in China.

A month earlier, the ministry shipped 1 million masks to Korean War veterans in 22 countries. Among them were Native American Navajo veterans.

Diverting mask supplies overseas is prohibited in Korea, as the country imposed a rationing system in March. But the delivery to independence fighters and war veterans is an exception to the rule on humanitarian assistance grounds.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)