Seoul: Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-jung met with the deputy chief of the U.S.-led multinational U.N. Command (UNC) on Thursday to discuss cooperation, Seoul's unification ministry said. Kim met with UNC Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Derek Macaulay at his office, according to the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the two sides agreed to strengthen mutual cooperation to promote peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, as stated in a release by the ministry. The discussion also touched on the recent repatriation of six North Koreans, where communication was conducted through the UNC due to severed inter-Korean communication channels since April 2023 amid strained ties.

On July 9, South Korea returned six North Korean fishermen across the maritime border in the East Sea. The fishermen, who had drifted into southern waters and were rescued, expressed their desire to return home. The UNC plays a pivotal role in overseeing the enforcement of the armistice agreement that halted the 1950-53 Korean War and in managing activities in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas.