South Korea’s Ministry of Unification (MOU) hopes to spend over $500 million dollars on inter-Korean humanitarian cooperation, according to its 2022 fiscal budget proposal released Thursday.

The ministry asked for nearly $1.29 billion (1.5 trillion won) for the 2022 fiscal year, a 1.6% jump over last year’s budget, in a proposal that it will officially submit to the National Assembly on Friday. 

The MOU stated that the goal of the budget is “promoting inter-Korean exchanges at the local and private level, promoting a peace zone, improving inter-Korean relations and actively towing the vision of a new deal on peace,” as