Ryoo Kihl-jae, the first Unification Minister of current South Korean President Park Geun-hye, shared details of his experience as point-man for inter-Korean relations on Friday, revealing details of personal exchanges with a North Korean delegation that visited Seoul in October, 2014.

Speaking in Korean at an academic conference held in Seoul on Friday, Ryoo also emphasized why he thinks dialogue is still key to resolve inter-Korean deadlock, even under the current circumstances.

“In 2014, when North Korea’s top three – Kim Yang Gon, Hwang Pyong So and Choe Ryong Hae – came to South Korea to attendthe closing ceremonies of the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, I had a conversation with