Unification Minister Chung Dong-young says he wants to clear existing hindrances to inter-Korean exchanges so that more people might travel to North Korea.

Chung said the government's exchange-promotion policy is heading in the right direction, but added that issues such as a proposal to allow longtime North Korean prisoners to visit their hometowns in the North could invite criticism.

The minister also said that if South Koreans could freely stay with their relatives in the North for even a short while, that would be a de-facto reunification, which in itself is the ultimate goal of Seoul's reunification policy.