Seoul (South Korea): As Seoul began its "living with Covid-19" scheme to phase out restrictions amid a rising vaccination rate, the South Korean Unification Minister said on Monday that it will begin discussions with the US-led UN Command (UNC) to resume tours to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom. According to reports, tours to Panmunjom, or the Joint Security Area (JSA), were halted in July after health authorities imposed the strictest virus controls in the greater Seoul area, which is home to half of the country's 52 million people.

"We've started talking to the UNC and other related organisations about resuming tours to Panmunjom," Ministry spokesman Lee Jong-joo told reporters. Armistice education seminars for units stationed at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas have also resumed, according to the UNC.

"Armistice education is back in full swing after a Covid social distancing pause," the UNC said. "They are back on the road this week, supporting the armistice's terms in a clear, consistent, and transparent manner." The move is in line with South Korea's first step toward returning to normalcy, which was implemented on Monday in response to a rising vaccination rate of over 75 percent. South Korea plans to gradually lift most of the virus restrictions under the living with Covid-19 policy by the end of Janu

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