South Korea hopes to hold video meetings for families separated by the Korean War around the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the country’s unification minister said on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference on Jan. 25, unification minister Lee In-young said that the Korean Seollal holiday — slated for Feb. 11 to Feb. 13 — is “an opportunity” to hold the virtual reunions.

His comments come after North Korea ignored Seoul’s request for more video family reunions last year, and less than a month after DPRK state media called such inter-Korean initiatives “inessential issues.” 

In Sept. 2018,