Seoul: South Korea will redeploy an attache in charge of unification affairs to the country's embassy in Russia later this year, the unification ministry said Thursday, ending a vacancy of more than a year.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the ministry cited the ever-closer ties between North Korea and Russia as the reason for the redeployment. The ministry emphasized that there will be "work to be done to access the relationship, given how close it has become."

A unification attache is tasked with advancing Seoul's policy on inter-Korean relations and reunification strategy in the long term. The position has been vacant since February last year, following a 2022 plan to reduce the number of overseas government officials under the former Yoon Suk Yeol government.

The unification ministry stated that the selection process for the new attache is ongoing, with the envoy expected to be in place by August. Currently, South Korea has four unification attaches stationed in the United States, China, Japan, and Germany.