남북 민간단체, 이번주 중국 선양서 접촉... 북측이 먼저 요청

Exchanges between the two Koreas, both on government and civic-level, came to a halt since the breakdown of the Hanoi summit in February... but that's about to change.
Major civic groups of South and North Korea are set to meet later this week in China upon North Korea's request... to discuss a joint inter-Korean event... and more.
Oh Jung-hee at the unification ministry for us.
Civic groups from South and North Korea are set to meet for the first time since the North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi.
That's according to the South Korean Committee for Implementation of the June 15th Joint Declaration.
That committee and two South Korean civic groups the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation... and the Movement for One Korea will meet this week with their North Korean counterparts in the Chinese city of Shenyang.
They'll be discussing holding a joint event to celebrate the anniversary of June 15th summit the first-ever inter-Korean summit held back in 2000.
A high-level South Korean government official had said on Tuesday... that Seoul is looking forward to hearing what the North has to say about the event.
Also likely to be discussed are... bringing back from Japan the remains of Koreans forced to work there during Japan's colonial rule of Korea... and the provision of humanitarian aid.
The North called for this meeting.
It had been unresponsive in terms of civic exchanges with the South after the Hanoi summit,... but earlier this month, it sent a letter to South Korean civic groups calling for cooperation to achieve peace and prosperity.
The meeting also comes after Pyeongyang changed the head of its United Front Department from top nuclear negotiator Kim Yong-chol to Jang Kum-chol, who used to be involved in civic exchanges with the South.
This will be the first time for South Korea to be in direct contact with the North since February, so the government is also watching keenly.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.