The Unification Ministry says it will approve additional requests submitted by civic groups to hold contact with North Korea.
 
The ministry’s deputy spokesperson, Lee Eugene, told reporters on Friday that the government will approve two such requests submitted by humanitarian aid groups and six presented by religious organizations.
 
The government is set to approve the requests in line with its stance that it will flexibly consider private inter-Korean exchanges within the scope that they don’t undermine the international community’s implementation of sanctions on the North.
 
Last Friday, the Unification Ministry approved a request by humanitarian group Korean Sharing Movement to make contact with the North to discuss joint disinfection against malaria. It marked the first approval of its kind since the launch of the Moon Jae-in government.
 
On Wednesday of this week, the ministry approved a request by the South Korean Committee for the Joint Implementation of the June 15th Summit Declaration to contact its North Korean counterpart to discuss an event marking the 17th anniversary of the inter-Korean declaration.