Vice Unification Minister Hong Yang-ho is urging the two Koreas to immediately resume sincere dialogue on all fronts. He noted a pile of pending inter-Korean tasks including the issue of separated families.

He made the remarks at an ancestral memorial service held at the Imjingak pavilion near the inter-Korean border in Paju, Gyeonggi Province by a group of people whose hometown is in North Korea.

The vice minister said the two Koreas should stop placing blame on each other and instead work together to resolve issues through dialogue.

A memorial service is held at the pavilion every year on the Lunar New Year day and on Chuseok.

Hong said the government is well aware of the families’ grief and vowed to make the issue a top priority. He said inter-Korean ties will continue to advance and the families issue will be resolved, calling unification the ultimate goal.