Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon has again called for North Korea to resume reunions of families separated by the Korean War. 

During a ceremony to mark the Lunar New Year with members of separated families near the border with the North on Friday, Cho said that the South Korean government is ready to pursue reunions regardless of the time, place and format if the North is willing. 

He said that the government will do everything it can so that inter-Korean cooperation which began with the Olympics will lead to an improvement in bilateral ties and a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. 

Seoul proposed holding a reunion during the Lunar New Year at a high-level dialogue last month. The North rejected the offer, demanding the repatriation of women who defected while working at a North Korean restaurant in China in 2016. The two Koreas last held a face-to-face family reunion in 2015.