President Yoon Suk Yeol said Sunday the unification ministry should no longer act like a support agency for North Korea, days after he nominated a conservative scholar to head the ministry.
“So far, the unification ministry has operated as if it were a support department for North Korea, and that shouldn’t be the case anymore,” Yoon told his staff, according to senior presidential press secretary Kim Eun-hye. “Now, it’s time for the unification ministry to change.”
Kim said Yoon made his remarks in a meeting with his staff over the recent nomination of Kim Yung-ho, a professor known for a hard-line stance toward Pyongyang, as the new unification minister.
“From now on, the unification ministry must carry out its proper responsibilities, in accordance with the constitutional principles that unification must be based on liberal democratic order,” Yoon was also quoted as saying. “The unification that we pursue must be one in which all the people from the South and the North enjoy better lives and are treated better as human beings.”
A high-ranking official from Yoon’s office explained: “The unification ministry will mostly analyze and respond to the latest trends in North Korea and also handle North Korean human rights issues.”
Kim Yung-ho, a conservative scholar nominated for the minister’s position Friday, has spoken of the need to press North Korea by highlighting human rights violations in the secretive regime and has said North Korean human rights should be prioritized in Seoul’s inter-Korean policy.
Critics believe Kim’s appointment, once finalized in a parliamentary confirmation hearing, could weaken the role of the unification ministry, which puts a priority on seeking exchanges and reconciliation with the North.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
