Center notices

The Ministry of Unification has told the National Assembly that it accepts a bill amending the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act to remove the grounds for refusing to accept a Report of Contact with North Korean Residents. This was confirmed in material submitted to the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on 17 September 2026. The bill is still pending before the committee's bill review subcommittee, so the law has not changed. Companies, organisations and individuals preparing a contact report should continue to follow the current procedure.

Key points

• The core of the bill (submitted to the National Assembly in June 2025) is the deletion of Article 9-2(3) of the Act.
• Article 9-2(3) currently allows the Minister of Unification to refuse to accept a contact report where there is a clear concern that the contact would harm inter-Korean exchange and cooperation, or would harm national security, public order or public welfare.
• According to press reports, reports refused under this provision numbered 4 in 2022, 44 in 2023, 25 in 2024 and 16 in 2025.
• The Ministry of Unification stated that the Ministry of Justice and the National Intelligence Service, as relevant agencies, share the same position.
• According to the Ministry of Unification, even if the bill passes, the duty to report in advance and sanctions such as administrative fines for failing to report will remain.

What to prepare

• If you are planning contact now, you must report in advance under the current rules, and the refusal provision still applies. Setting out the purpose, counterpart, method and schedule of the contact in detail makes the review easier.
• Even if the bill passes, the reporting requirement itself does not go away. Contact without a report remains subject to an administrative fine.
• We will post another notice once the National Assembly's review is complete and the promulgation and effective dates are set.
• The reporting form is available in our Resources section. If you have questions about filling it in, please request a consultation (1588-0303, [email protected]). Reports are received and decided on by the Ministry of Unification.

Source: Segye Ilbo (via Yonhap), report on the government's position on the contact report amendment bill (17 September 2026) https://www.segye.com/newsView/20260917501358 · The Financial News, report on the same (17 September 2026) https://www.fnnews.com/news/202609171550502886