The government and the ruling Uri Party are pushing for revisions to the South-North Exchange and Cooperation Law.

The envisaged revision bill would simplify procedures necessary for South and North Korean civilians to contact each other.

Under the revisions, South Koreans wishing to simply contact North Koreans would only be required to report the contact to the government. The bill would also allow civilians making inter-Korean contact via e-mail or online to report the case to the government after the contact has been made.

But prior government permission would still be necessary when making cross-border visits.

The revised bill would also designate South-North transactions as "internal trade" to facilitate inter-Korean economic cooperation.

South Korean businessmen would be granted permission for individual projects at the same time that they receive a cross-border business licence.

The current law stipulates that businessmen must first obtain government permission to operate on the other side of the border before requesting additional permission for the content of their business operations.