South Korea permits private-level inter-Korean exchanges without restrictions
South Korea has begun allowing its nationals to contact North Koreans without restrictions, provided such contacts are declared in advance, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Thursday, Yonhap reports.
Chung said he signed off on the disposal of ministry guidelines governing declarations of contacts with North Koreans the previous day, speaking to reporters on his way to the office earlier in the day.
Such guidelines had served as the basis for the government to reject civilians' bids for contact with North Korean nationals, contributing to the near-freeze in private-level inter-Korean exchanges in recent years.
The change allows ordinary South Koreans to engage freely with North Koreans, provided they declare such contacts to the ministry in advance, a requirement stemming from the fact that the two Koreas technically remain at war, with only an armistice having halted the 1950-53 Korean War.
"This (permits) full-range contacts at the private level," Chung said. "Free contacts between the peoples make mutual understanding possible, which can then lead to coexistence."
The minister said a National Security Council meeting scheduled for early August will include a review of a potential adjustment to the large-scale South Korea-U.S. military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield.
Earlier this week, Chung told reporters that he plans to propose adjusting the joint military exercise, scheduled for mid-August, to President Lee Jae Myung as part of efforts to improve ties with North Korea.
As it was reported, 12 died from heat-related illnesses in South Korea.
