S. Korean ruling party considers inter-Korean youth exchanges

SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's ruling party is considering programs to promote youth exchanges with North Korea as a campaign promise for April's parliamentary elections, officials said Friday, a move seen as softening the party's hard-line stance on the North. The Saenuri Party, formerly the Grand National Party, recently changed its policy platform and promised to take a more conciliatory approach to the North goes through a leadership change following the death of leader Kim Jong-il in mid-December. "The party is deliberating measures to establish direct communication channels between youngsters in South and North Korea," a party official in charge of crafting campaign pledges said. "It is important that young people have an objective perception of the reality in the North and the concept of peaceful reunification." There are no direct means of contact between the general public in the two Koreas, which remain divided by a heavily fortified border after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The party is also seeking to resume family reunions of those separated by the war as time is running short for the mostly elderly family members, according to officials. The last round of family reunions was held in 2010. The party is also considering expanding humanitarian aid to the North. (END)