South Korea's point man on North Korea vowed Thursday to make more efforts to open an official dialogue channel between the sides.
  

Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo made the remark as inter-Korean ties have been strained over various issues, including Pyongyang's decision to raise wages for North Korean workers hired by South Korean businesses at a joint industrial complex.
  

Seoul has proposed government-level talks to settle the issue, but Pyongyang has spurned the offer, insisting on its sovereignty.
  

"I will work harder to open a channel of dialogue between government officials," Hong said during a meeting of a council handling North Korea policy.
  

Hong also called for more cross-border projects to help build trust between the two Koreas.
  

"There should be more discussions on various projects aimed at achieving peaceful reunification through restoring a sense of homogeneity by creating more channels of contact between the people of the two sides," he said. (Yonhap)