Summary of inter-Korean news this week

SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.

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Gov't to offer separated families VR tours of hometowns in N. Korea

SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is working on a project to create virtual reality (VR) content to offer families, torn apart by the 1950-53 Korean War, virtual journeys back to their hometowns in North Korea, officials said Sunday.

Commissioned by the unification ministry, the Korean Red Cross is carrying out the project aimed at allowing separated families to virtually experience journeys from South Korea to their hometowns in the North and visit their neighbors by using cutting-edge graphics and videos, officials said.

"As the separated families are aging rapidly and there are not enough opportunities for reunions, we decided to push ahead with this project using cutting-edge technology to offer them consolation," a unification ministry official said.

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Mutually beneficial inter-Korean ties will help accelerate peace and nuclear talks: minister

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- Mutually beneficial inter-Korean relations will help move the stalled denuclearization talks forward, the unification minister said Monday, calling for the two Koreas to take the lead in achieving "complete, verifiable and irreversible peace."

Unification Minister Lee In-young made the remarks in his online speech for the Korean Global Forum for Peace, an annual forum organized by his office, stressing that he will push for cooperation with the North in public health and other areas beneficial to the two Koreas.

"The South and the North will find the possibility of living together in a single community again through mutually beneficial cooperation," Lee told the forum livestreamed through YouTube. "I believe that would accelerate progress in the peace process on the Korean Peninsula and a big trend of dialogue on denuclearization between the North and the U.S."

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UNESCO reiterates support for Moon's plan to list DMZ as World Heritage site

SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Wednesday reiterated its support for South Korean President Moon Jae-in's plan to list the inter-Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) as a World Heritage site.

Firmin Edouard Matoko, assistant director-general for Priority Africa and External Relations of UNESCO, made the remarks in an online special message for the Korea Global Forum for Peace, an annual forum organized by Seoul's unification ministry.

"UNESCO is committed to pursuing a true diplomacy of heritage in the service of peace. The organization reiterates its support for President Moon Jae-in's ideas to work together with the DPRK to inscribe the DMZ area as a UNESCO World Heritage site," he said.
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