Unification Minister Kwon Young-se speaks during an impromptu press conference held at the Government Complex Seoul, Thursday. He proposed talks with North Korea on resuming meetings to reunite separated families. Yonhap

Second time for Yoon Suk-yeol government to propose talks on humanitarian issues

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se proposed inter-Korean talks on resuming meetings to reunite separated families on Thursday, a day before the start of the Chuseok holiday.

The proposal was unveiled during an unscheduled press conference held at the Government Complex Seoul.

The unification minister suggested that officials of the two Koreas sit down as soon as possible so they can find "fundamental solutions" ― rather than a one-off event for political purposes ― for families that have been tragically separated since the 1950-53 Korean War.

"The one-off sort of reunion among the relatively small group of separated families is not sufficient to solve the problem fundamentally," he said, while explaining what he had in mind regarding the idea of reunions. He did not elaborate on what he meant by "fundamental solutions."