SEOUL: Senior officials of South and North Korea will meet at their joint liaison office Friday to discuss cross-border issues, including the delivery of antiviral drugs to North Korea, the unification ministry said.
Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, South Korea’s head of the liaison office, will hold a meeting in the North’s border town of Kaesong with Hwang Chung-song, a deputy head of the office on the North’s side.
The meeting comes after South Korea and the United States held a videoconference Thursday to discuss North Korea-related issues, including Seoul’s push for humanitarian programs to the North.
“The meeting between the co-chiefs of the liaison office is held once a week unless there are special circumstances, and various pending issues regarding inter-Korean relations are discussed,” Lee Eugene, the ministry’s deputy spokesperson, said when asked whether the delivery of Tamiflu will be addressed during the meeting.
South Korea unveiled a plan to provide 200,000 doses of Tamiflu to North Korea in December. It was supposed to be delivered last week, but the delivery was postponed due to a need for more preparations. Officials said the shipment is expected to take place next week.
If sent, it would be the first such delivery since 2009, when Seoul provided around 400,000 doses of Tamiflu and 100,000 doses of Relenza antiviral drugs to North Korea via a land route across their western border.
Regarding South Korean businesspeople’s recent request for a trip to a joint industrial park in Kaesong, Lee said the government will continue to consult with the U.S. through various channels.
The business leaders, who once operated plants at the industrial complex, requested government approval for the trip last week, but the Seoul government deferred the decision, saying more time is needed to review the request.
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