Support of 1.7 Billion Won for Panmunjom Tour and 1 Billion Won for Genetic Testing of Separated Families

Support Decided by the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Fund

President Moon Jae-in and Chairman Kim Jong-un raised their joined hands after signing the "Panmunjom Declaration" at Panmunjom on the afternoon of April 27, 2018.

To expand opportunities for the public to visit Panmunjom and enhance convenience, the government will provide financial support from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund for the operation of the Panmunjom Visit Support Center and related expenses. The support amount is approximately 1.7 billion KRW.

On the 22nd, the government held the 311th Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council (hereinafter referred to as the Exchange Council) and reviewed and approved the "2020 Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund Support Plan for Integrated Management and Operation of Panmunjom Visits," which includes the provision of 1.655 billion KRW in free support for the operation of Panmunjom visits.

Specifically, this includes ▲ operation of the Visit Support Center ▲ recruitment and management of support personnel ▲ payment of lease fees for visit vehicles.

Through this resolution, Panmunjom visits, which had been operated separately by related agencies, will be integrated and managed. Previously, the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Unification, and National Intelligence Service managed visits separately depending on the target group. Starting this year, management will be unified under the Ministry of Unification and operated through the Visit Support Center. The Ministry of Unification explained that this is intended to enhance convenience for tourists.

To this end, the government had previously invested about 1.457 billion KRW from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund in November last year to build an integrated website and remodel the Visit Support Center, establishing the visit infrastructure.

The Ministry of Unification plans to begin full-scale operation of the Visit Support Center as early as the first half of this year after consultations with related ministries.

However, currently, Panmunjom visits are temporarily suspended as part of quarantine measures against African Swine Fever (ASF), and full-scale operation of the visit program is expected to be possible after the quarantine measures are completed.

Meanwhile, at the Exchange Council meeting on the same day, seven proposals for Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund support necessary for annually conducted projects were reviewed and approved, including the "Inter-Korean Separated Families DNA Testing Project" (1.05 billion KRW), the "Joint Compilation Project of the Great Korean Dictionary" (4.022 billion KRW), and the "Operation Expenses for the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office" (6.406 billion KRW).

The Exchange Council is a body that deliberates and decides on important matters related to inter-Korean exchange and cooperation, consisting of 18 members including the chairperson, Minister of Unification Kim Yeon-chul, vice ministers or vice minister-level officials from related ministries, and civilian experts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.