Koreas to discuss video reunions of separated families via liaison office

SEOUL: South Korea plans to raise the issue of arranging video reunions for separated families with North Korea through a joint liaison office as soon as internal discussions are complete, Yonhap news agency reported, quoting the unification ministry yesterday.

The Seoul government is seeking to hold video calls among those with family members in North Korea, as agreed by the leaders of the two Koreas last September.

It recently secured sanctions exemptions from the US and the UN Security Council for necessary image- sending equipment to be sent to the North for the event.

“Preparations are under way before starting consultations with North Korea,” Baik Tae Hyun, the unification ministry’s spokesman, told a regular press briefing.

“As soon as internal preparations, including intragovernment agency discussion, are complete, the consultations (with the North) will be carried out through the inter-Korean liaison office,” the statement said.

The two Kore as opened the liaison office last year as part of a major cross- border communication channel.

They are supposed to hold a weekly co-heads’ meeting, usually every Friday.

The weekly liaison meeting between South Korean Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae Sung and his North Korean counterpart, Jon Jong Su, has not been held since the breakdown of the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump late February.

The spokesman dismissed concerns over the lull and emphasised that the two Koreas continue to have constant workinglevel communication through the liaison office.

He did not mention whether the weekly meeting will be held tomorrow. — Bernama