The United Nations has released $8 million in emergency funds for underfunded aid operations in North Korea amid rising tensions over Pyongyang's plans to launch a long-range rocket in violation of U.N. resolutions.

"Humanitarian needs must be kept separate from political issues to ensure minimum living conditions for the most vulnerable people," Tapan Mishra, U.N. resident coordinator for the North, said in a press release, according to the U.N. website.

"The commitment and support of the international community is vital. Protracted and serious needs must be addressed," he said.

The fund is aimed at enabling "life-saving assistance for more than 2.2 million people who are the most vulnerable and at risk of malnutrition," the U.N. said.

North Korea has long been under international criticism for putting its scarce resources into its nuclear and missile programs when its people suffer from hunger. The impoverished nation has relied on foreign aid to feed the population since its economy was devastated in the mid-1990s.

The already-high tensions on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of the North's Jan. 6 nuclear test rose even higher this week as Pyongyang unveiled its plan to carry out a long-range rocket launch between Monday and Feb. 25 in violation of U.N. resolutions.

North Korea says its rocket launches are aimed at putting satellites into orbit, claiming it has the right to the peaceful use of space. But Pyongyang is banned from such launches under U.N. Security Council resolutions as it has been accused of using them as a cover for testing intercontinental ballistic missiles. (Yonhap)