7 additional video reunion centers for separated families to be completed this month

SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- An additional seven video conference facilities for separated family reunions will be completed by the end of this month, the unification ministry said Friday.

Earlier, a civilian-government committee on inter-Korean exchanges approved the decision to establish the additional video reunions centers outside Seoul, in addition to the existing 13.

"We believe it is very important to build the conference centers in advance so the reunions can resume immediately when inter-Korean relations are restored," Cha Deok-cheol, deputy spokesperson at the unification ministry, said during a regular press briefing.

South Korea has sought to hold reunions of separated families via video links but little progress has been made amid chilled inter-Korean relations.

The two Koreas held their last face-to-face reunions of separated families in August 2018 at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North's east coast.

Tens of thousands of people remain separated from their families in the North since the Korean War, which ended in a truce. Most of the survivors are in their 80s and older.

julesyi@yna.co.kr
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