DPRK's Ri Suk-hee (R), 90, meets with her ROK brother Lee Yong-hee (left), 89, during the first meeting of a three-day family reunion event at DPRK's Mount Kumgang resort, Aug 24, 2018. (PHOTO / KOREA POOL / AFP)
SEOUL — The Republic of Korea (ROK)'s Unification Ministry said Monday that it has been pushing to hold the video reunion of Korean families, separated across the border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), at an earliest possible date.
ROK will make efforts to hold the video reunion as soon as possible
Baik Tae-hyun, Spokesman, Unification Ministry, ROK
Baik Tae-hyun, Unification Ministry's spokesman, told a press briefing that ROK has been in close consultations with the United States since late last year about the issue.
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Based on the consultations, ROK will make efforts to hold the video reunion as soon as possible, Baik noted.
Seoul had pushed to hold the video reunion around the Lunar New Year's Day traditional holiday that falls on next week.
However, it seemed hard to be materialized as time is needed to win sanctions exemptions for equipment necessary to be sent to the DPRK for the video reunion.
After their third summit in Pyongyang in September last year, ROK President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un agreed to cooperate in allowing separated Korean families to hold the video reunion and exchange video messages.
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Since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with armistice, people of the two Koreas have been banned from contacting and meeting each other.
Following the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000, 21 rounds of face-to-face family reunions were held, including the latest in August last year.
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