Summary of inter-Korean news this week

NK weekly-inter-Korean news

Summary of inter-Korean news this week

SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.

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224 N. Korean defectors enter South last year, slightly down from 2024

SEOUL -- A total of 224 North Korean defectors entered South Korea for resettlement last year, slightly down from the previous year, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.

The 2025 total includes 198 female defectors and 26 male counterparts, bringing the cumulative number of North Korean defectors who have resettled in the South to 34,538, the official said.

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N. Korea's Kim agreed to visit Seoul in 2018 but canceled day before announcement due to security concerns

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had agreed to visit Seoul in late 2018 amid then warming inter-Korean ties, but the planned trip was abruptly canceled a day before its announcement apparently due to security concerns, a South Korean lawmaker said Tuesday.

Rep. Youn Kun-young of the ruling Democratic Party, who at the time served as a key presidential aide in charge of state affairs planning and monitoring, said the two Koreas had agreed on Kim's trip to Seoul following then President Moon Jae-in's visit to Pyongyang earlier that year.

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Unification minister commits to finding path for resuming inter-Korean exchanges

SEOUL -- Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Thursday committed to seeking a breakthrough in resuming exchanges with North Korea, reaffirming Seoul's policy of reengaging the regime to promote peace.

"By designing mutually beneficial, multilateral and innovative cooperative projects, the government will find a path to resuming inter-Korean exchanges," Chung said during a meeting of the South-North Korea Exchanges and Cooperation Support Association.

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