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By Kang Seung-woo

The South Korean government is enthusiastic about providing coronavirus vaccines to North Korea as part of its efforts to get stalled inter-Korean relations back on track.

Since the Hanoi summit between the United States and North Korea failed to produce a nuclear deal in February 2019, inter-Korean ties have consequently been deadlocked. In order to break the impasse, the Moon Jae-in administration has floated a variety of ideas to bring the Kim Jong-un regime back to the dialogue table, with vaccine aid emerging as a fresh option.

The latest senior government official to pitch the vaccine supply offer was Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who told foreign correspondents in Seoul, Wednesday, that South Korea was willing to share COVID-19 vaccines with North Korea.

"The South Korean government has set its sights on inoculating 70 percent of the population by September and achieving herd immunity by November. Even afterwards, if we still have additional vaccines, we can share them with North Korea and other countries having difficulty securing vaccines," Chung said. "We will keep this option open."

However, the prime minister admitted that there had been no consultations with the North about the issue.