President Moon Jae-in says families on the peninsula separated by the Korean War should be given more opportunities to meet with their loved ones.

Moon made the remark in a meeting with his aides at the presidential office, addressing the beginning of rare family reunion events in North Korea on Monday. 

Noting that the two Koreas should work harder to resolve the issue of war-separated families, the president called for more regularized reunions, reunions via teleconference, letter exchanges and home-coming events.

He stressed that expanding and speeding up related efforts to bring together such families is the top priority among all the humanitarian projects between the two Koreas. He also said facilities at Mount Geumgang should remain open and serve as meeting venues for the families as agreed upon between the two Koreas long time ago. 

Moon pointed out that more than 56-thousand people in the South are waiting for a chance to meet with their families in the North, adding that he can sympathize with them, as his family was also separated by the war. 

The president instructed officials to make sure medical assistance is provided on time for family reunion participants in case they develop health problems during the inter-Korean events.