As this year marks the 70th anniversary of national liberation, the city of Seoul has decided to actively pursue inter-Korean projects.
 
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has reported to its city council that it will recommend the Ministry of Unification revise laws to allow local governments to seek inter-Korean exchange projects.  
 
An official at Seoul Management and Planning Office said it will be safer and more reliable for local governments to seek projects than for private organizations. The official said the central government is worried that there will be too many projects due to competition among local governments, but that the unification ministry should be able to handle the situation. 
 
Seoul has allocated five-point-five billion won for inter-Korean exchanges this year, up 580 million won from a year earlier.
 
It has allocated one-point-eight billion won for social and cultural exchange projects such as an inter-Korean football tournament and a performance by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in Pyongyang.
 
It has also allocated two-point-four billion won for humanitarian projects such as developing forests, improving water quality and providing medicine to Pyongyang's oncology research institute, down one billion won from last year.