Archives of Inter-Korean Talks to be Released to the Public on a
Trial Basis
□ The Ministry of Unification will disclose a portion of archives of
inter-Korean talks for the first time in history. A total of 1652
pages of documents from August 1970 to August 1972 (Volumes II and III
of Archives of Inter-Korean Talks) are to be released on May 4, 2022.
[Note: The first volume does not include documents of inter-Korean
talks. It is a set of public claims and proposals on unification of
the South and the North from 1945 to 1969 and was not included for
trial public disclosure along with other two volumes.]
□ The Unification Ministry has decided to disclose archives of
inter-Korean talks 30 years after they were created or received in
order to raise the public’s right to know and strengthen transparency
in promoting North Korea policy.
o To this end, the Ministry enacted and implemented the Ordinance of
“Regulations on the Disclosure of Archives for Inter-Korean Talks” on
January 1. The Ministry conducted preliminary examination, consulted
with relevant organizations, and held the ‘deliberation council on
disclosing inter-Korean talks archives’ before the archives are open
to public on a trial basis.
□ The disclosed archives include the first contact between South and
North Korean delegates of Red Cross since the national division and 25
rounds of inter-Korean Red Cross preliminary talks.
* The contents of 829 pages of Volume II include the first to
fifth contact with inter-Korean Red Cross delegates, the first to
fifteenth Inter-Korean Red Cross preliminary talks.
The Volume III with 823 pages includes the sixteenth to
twenty-fifth inter-Korean Red Cross preliminary talks, the first to
thirteenth working-level meetings on agenda drafts and the first to
third working-level meetings on procedures.
□ The archives are available by visiting the archives reference room
of the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue, the National Institute for
Unification Center, and the Information Center on North Korea located
in Seoul.
Opening hours
1. The Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue
- 09:30-17:00 (closed on weekends and holidays)
- 20, Waryonggongwon-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03051
2. The National Institute for Unification Education
- 09:30-17:00 (closed on weekends and holidays)
- 123, 4.19-ro, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, 01018
3. The Information Center on North Korea / 5th floor of the National
Library of Korea
- 10:00-18:00 (closed on public holidays, second and fourth Mondays)
- 201 Banpodaero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 06579
□ Starting with this trial disclosure of archives, the Unification
Ministry plans to expand accessibility of archives of inter-Korean
talks to the public in accordance with the regulations.
