Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul met with a group of advisers to measure public opinion on Seoul’s planned food assistance for North Korea. 

According to the Unification Ministry, the minister on Wednesday heard from eight experts providing advisory support on inter-Korean cooperation on humanitarian issues, including Kim Joong-tae, the head of the Inter-Korean Institute for Social Integration. 

The experts stressed a need to secure public consensus on providing North Korean food aid given heightened tensions following the regime’s recent missile launches. 

However, some advisers said Seoul needs to swiftly implement the pledge it made in 2017 to provide eight million dollars to the World Food Program and UNICEF projects that support infant and prenatal care in the North. 

The meeting also included discussion on resolving the issue of Korean War-separated families, North Korean human rights and government support for North Korean defectors settling in the South.