President Moon Jae-in vowed to expand cross-border exchanges with North Korea on Friday, saying an increase in exchanges may eventually lead to the unification of the divided Koreas.

"Should the exchanges that were launched by South and North Korean art performance groups continue and should the South and the North meet more frequently," the president said while meeting a group of South Korean artists over lunch at his office Cheong Wa Dae. "I believe the people may freely come and go between the South and the North, and in the end, there may come a day when the South and the North will once again become one."

The invited artists, including famous singers Baek Ji-young and Lee Sun-hee, visited Pyongyang last month to stage an art performance, reciprocating a South Korea visit and performance by a North Korean art troupe during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games held here in February.