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| ROK's Unification Minister Lee In-young listens to a question during a press conference at the Seoul Foreign Correspondent Club in Seoul on Feb 3, 2021. (File photo by=AHN YOUNG-JOON / POOL / AFP) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] Unification Minister Lee In-young announced on Friday that South Korea shared it’s proposal to North Korea, through a recently restored liaison hotline, to discuss ways to set up a virtual conference system for inter-Korean talks.
The proposal was made Thursday via the hotline restored Tuesday after nearly 14 months of suspension, and the North received a document containing the South's offer, he added. Lee said the government will try to complete setting up the system for virtual talks or "safe in-person talks" as soon as possible to move the stalled talks forward amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, a high-ranking ministry official later explained that the ministry has detected signs that the border between the North and China has opened up via sea and "has a possibility of opening via land." On Tuesday, four hotlines were restored nearly 14 months after the North cut them off in June last year in protest of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets coming in from the South. The official said the North's decision to reconnect the severed communication lines is reflective of the trust between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
