The government will begin repair work from Wednesday on video reunion centers set up across the country for families to connect with their North Korean relatives separated by the Korean War.

A Unification Ministry official told reporters Tuesday that simultaneous renovations will begin at 13 reunion centers and will be concluded by the end of this month.

The official said that related ministries were also discussing repair work needed at North Korea's video reunion venues, and that consultations will be sought with the North for the shipment of materials necessary for the repair work.

The Seoul government recently approved the use of three-point-one billion won from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund for the reunion center renovations in South Korea and also for equipment assistance in North Korea. 

The facilities have been mostly neglected since the last video reunion was held in 2007.

On whether families selected for video reunions would be excluded from face-to-face meetings, an official said no such rule exists and promised to set reasonable standards so that as many people as possible can reunite with their loved ones in North Korea.