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Unification Minister Lee In-young, who is sending messages to North Korea every day, proposed a small-scale barter exchange method today (21st).

Reporter Kim A-young reports that it would be a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations by trying to do a so-called'small trade' in which Daedonggang beer or Geumgangsan water is exchanged with our rice or medicines.

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Lee In-young, a candidate for Unification Minister who went to an informal conference two days before the hearing.

Emphasizing the bold and new imagination of inter-Korean relations, he proposed a so-called small trade in barter.

[Lee In-young/Minister of Unification: Water from Mt. Geumgang and Baekdu, and alcohol from Daedonggang and our rice, medicines, etc. .]

North Korea's bottled water, beer, rice, and drugs are not UN sanctioned items, and bartering can bypass the sanctions framework because large amounts of cash do not go.

The candidate, who emphasized the leadership of the Ministry of Unification on the inter-Korean issue, continued his remarks on the current issue.

Our readers' sanctions to stop inter-Korean trade, the May 24 Measures, said they have effectively lost their effectiveness, and they know the necessity for the transfer of OPCON, but they also expressed their hope to strategically postpone the ROK-US combined training next month to facilitate dialogue.

[Lee In-young/Minister of Unification: I would like to postpone for that personal position, it is true to have this idea. I want you to be strategically flexible... .]

Related ministries have been cautious about the candidate's successive proposals and comments. An official from the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the issue of tourism on the Mount Kumgang,

saying that the ROK and the United States had already reached an opinion. [Kim In-cheol/Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: We are constantly looking for solutions through creative and close communication.]

He also said that the proposal for trade in water and water should be carefully examined.

There was also a talks over the US-ROK Defense Minister's phone call today in relation to combined training, but no conclusions were reached between reduction and delay.

(Video coverage: Sunghwa Hwa, Video editing: Seungjin Lee)