The government says holding family reunions during the Lunar New Year has become impossible.
 
Unification Ministry spokesperson Lim Byeong-cheol made the remark in a regular briefing on Monday. He urged North Korea to accept Seoul’s proposal to resume family reunions as soon as possible out of respect for people who have not seen their relatives across the border for decades.
 
The South proposed late last year that the two Koreas hold dialogue in January and resume family reunions before the Lunar New Year, but the North did not respond to the proposal.
   
The ministry spokesman reiterated that the government “plans to deal resolutely with North Korea's provocation and also maintain the Korean Peninsula Trust Process to build up mutual trust through dialogue and cooperation between the South and North."