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South Korean Minister of Unification Cho Myung-gyon gives a briefing at the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on July 24. (Yonhap News)
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Unification minister confirms UN approval to renovate facilities in North Korea
On July 24, South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myung-gyon said that the UN had confirmed that transporting the materials needed to repair and renovate the meeting hall at Mt. Kumgang for upcoming reunions of the divided families was an exception to sanctions. “We asked the UN to grant an exception to the sanctions [on North Korea] that we need to repair and renovate the meeting hall for the divided family reunions, and today we were notified that that exception has been granted,” Cho said during an appearance before the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on Tuesday. After South and North Korea agreed to repair the meeting hall, Mt. Kumgang Hotel and the Onjonggak complex before the reunions, 22 South Korean workers with the Unification Ministry, the South Korean Red Cross and Hyundai Asan have been staying near Mt. Kumgang and working on the repairs since July 9. Repairing the meeting hall and holding the reunions required an exception from the UN sanctions because of the need to bring trucks, fuel and other sanctioned materials into the Mt. Kumgang area. “During the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics [in February], we were granted an exception for particular items. We’ve broadened the deliberations this time to the point where we’re being granted exceptions for project categories. We’ll keep working on this in the future,” Cho said, in regard to efforts to convince the UN to grant exceptions to the sanctions. As part of preparations for the reunions, which are scheduled to be held from Aug. 20 to 26, South and North Korea are planning to exchange documents on July 25 confirming whether the requested family members are still alive. The reunions have not been held for nearly three years now, since Oct. 2015. In related news, Cho said during his briefing to the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee that the inter-Korean joint liaison office that is supposed to be set up and operated in the Kaesong Industrial Complex would be “expanded and developed into permanent missions to Seoul and Pyongyang pending progress in inter-Korean relations.” “After opening the inter-Korean joint liaison office in mid-August, we’ll establish a permanent channel of deliberations between our two governments,” Cho said in his briefing to the National Assembly. Cho reported that South Korean President Moon Jae-in had suggested setting up liaison offices in Seoul and Pyongyang in addition to the joint liaison office in Kaesong during the inter-Korean summit in Panmunjeom on Apr. 27. According to Cho, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un responded to Moon’s suggestion by indicating that it might be possible to discuss that, depending on the situation in the future. By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
