Ministry reviewing local association's N. Korean visit bid over separated families

Koo Byoung-sam, spokesperson of South Korea's unification ministry, speaks at a regular press briefing on Feb. 13. Yonhap

South Korea's unification ministry said Monday it is reviewing whether to approve an application by a local association to visit North Korea over the issue of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Inter-Korean Separated Family Association on Friday submitted a document seeking government approval for a plan by its members to visit the North, after receiving an invitation from a North Korean organization, according to the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs.

"The government is closely looking into overall details, including the characteristics of the North's entity and its reliability," Koo Byoung-sam, the ministry's spokesperson, told a regular press briefing.

The group said it received an invitation from a North Korean entity under the United Front Department, a unit in charge of relations with the South, in November last year.

According to the invitation, the North said it will guarantee the safety of three South Koreans connected to the group, including its chief, during the visit, and shoulder relevant costs.

The issue of the separated families has taken on greater urgency as more elderly people have died without having a chance to meet their kin in the North amid the secretive regime's reluctance to hold family reunion events. (Yonhap)