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Hans India
an hour ago
- Politics
- Hans India
South Korea: New unification minister prioritises resuming dialogue with North Korea
Seoul: South Korea's new Unification Minister, Chung Dong-young on Friday emphasised the need to restore communication channels and resume dialogue with North Korea, calling them his top priorities as he took office. "Restoring communication channels and resuming dialogue (between the two Koreas) are tasks I must pursue as soon as possible," Chung told reporters ahead of his inauguration ceremony as the first unification minister under President Lee Jae Myung. The president approved his appointment as the country's top point man on North Korea earlier in the day, Yonhap news agency reported. "It has been six years since talks between South and North Korea were suspended, far too long a period," he said. Chung also said renaming the ministry is not a priority, explaining that recovering its manpower, which was slashed under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration, must come first. Citing the need to increase the chances of dialogue with North Korea, he has repeatedly called for renaming the ministry, suggesting the Korean Peninsula ministry as one option. "The past three years have marked the worst point in inter-Korean relations, during which both sides responded to each other with animosity and confrontation," he said in a subsequent inauguration speech. The minister described the recent suspensions of mutual propaganda broadcasts by the two Koreas as the "first signal" of recovering inter-Korean trust, saying, "It's time for South and North Korea to start rebuilding the trust that has been dismantled, step by step." "Let us put animosity and confrontation behind us and open an era of reconciliation and cooperation again," the minister said, expressing hope that the two Koreas will hold a joint event to mark the 100th anniversary of the publication of pre-division poet Kim So-wol's renowned poetry collection, "Azaleas." Ahead of the inauguration ceremony, Chung also visited the truce village of Panmunjom near the inter-Korean border. During the visit, Chung inspected the South's facilities at Panmunjom, a historic venue where some 370 rounds of inter-Korean talks have taken place since 1971. Chung stressed that restoring now-suspended inter-Korean communication channels is an "urgent priority" in order to swiftly resume dialogue between the two Koreas. "Under cooperation with relevant agencies, such as the UN Command, I will do my best to make Panmunjom into a space for connection and cooperation rather than one of separation and tension," he said. Chung, a journalist-turned-lawmaker, previously served as unification minister in 2004-05 under former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun.
Korea Herald
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Ministers of defense, unification, veterans affairs appointed
South Korea sees 1st civilian Defense Minister in 64 years; reinstated Unification Minister urges swift restoration of inter-Korean communication channel President Lee Jae Myung has appointed Ahn Gyu-back as the Defense Minister, Chung Dong-young as the Unification Minister and Kwon Oh-eul as the Veterans Affairs Minister, the presidential office announced Friday. Including the prime minister, this brings the number of confirmed Cabinet ministers in the Lee administration to 16 out of the total 20 as of Friday. Ahn, a five-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, said he would restore people's trust toward South Korea's military after the martial law crisis in December, during which national armed forces were deployed to the National Assembly. He added he would "not be bound by conventions and inaction" as the civilian leader of the Ministry of the National Defense. The new defense minister is a career politician who served as a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee from 2008 to 2025. He said he would navigate challenges faced by the South Korean military, such as a dwindling young population, the advancement of North Korea's nuclear and missile threat, heightened volatility in the geopolitical situation, and the fast-paced development of cutting-edge arms technologies, among others. He also stressed the need to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula on the foundation of military strength. Chung, also a five-term lawmaker of the Democratic Party, visited Panmunjom, a village in the demilitarized zone in northern Gyeonggi Province, later on Friday. There, he called for a swift restoration of the communication channel between the two Koreas, as he inspected an inter-Korean emergency hotline in Panmunjom. The communication line has been cut off since April 2023. This is Chung's second time taking on the role of unification minister, having previously taken on the role from July 2004 to December 2005 under the late former President Roh Moo-hyun. Kwon vowed to boost support for veterans with low income and the bereaved families of war veterans, as well as increase rewards for the sacrifices veterans have made for the country, in his inaugural speech on Friday. Kwon was previously a conservative lawmaker from 1996 to 2008. As for the four remaining ministerial posts, Lee's administration awaits the confirmation hearing of two: Culture Minister nominee Chae Hwi-young and Land Minister nominee Rep. Kim Yun-duk. The nominees for education minister and gender equality minister recently dropped out due to controversies that grew over the course of their confirmation hearings.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
South Korea stops decades-old propaganda broadcast into North Korea
Find out what's new on ST website and app. In June, President Lee Jae-myung ordered a halt to loudspeaker broadcasts near the border that criticise the Kim regime. SEOUL – South Korea has suspended decades-old radio broadcasts into North Korea in its latest move to ease tensions, marking a symbolic win for Pyongyang by cutting off a rare source of uncensored information for its citizens. South Korea's presidential office said on July 23 the radio broadcasts have been suspended 'for some time now,' saying such a move is better than witnessing inter-Korean ties deteriorating. That confirmed a recent report by the 38 North programme at the Stimson Centre that said that four radio stations believed to have been operated by South Korea's National Intelligence Service went silent in early July. 'In most of the world, cross-border broadcasting is a relic of a bygone era,' Mr Martyn Williams, a senior fellow for the Stimson Centre, said in the report. 'But North Korea is not like most of the world. It is one of the few places where people don't have access to the internet and are banned from accessing foreign media.' The move is especially notable because the programmes, some of which date back to the 1970s, 'have never paused broadcasting since their start, no matter the political relationship between the two Koreas being warm or frosty,' Mr Williams said. The move aligns with South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung's broader effort to improve relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, signalling a departure from the hardline policies of his conservative predecessor. In June, Mr Lee ordered a halt to loudspeaker broadcasts near the border that criticise the Kim regime. While the impact of the suspended broadcasts is hard to measure, North Korea's consistent attempts to jam the signals suggest they were effective in reaching listeners, Mr Williams said.
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
South Korea reviewing various options to improve North Korea ties
Find out what's new on ST website and app. A visitor takes a picture of the Bridge of Freedom, which connects North Korea and South Korea, at the Imjingak pavilion near the demilitarized zone which separates the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, October 16, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon SEOUL - South Korea is studying various plans to improve relations with North Korea, a spokesperson for South Korea's Unification Ministry said on Monday, in response to a media report that Seoul is considering allowing individual tours to North Korea. Koo Byung-sam, a spokesperson for the ministry that handles inter-Korea affairs, refused to comment on a "particular issue". But, Koo said he understood individual tours were not in violation of international sanctions. Tourism is one of a narrow range of cash sources for North Korea that are not targeted under United Nations sanctions over its nuclear and weapons programs. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has pledged to improve strained relations with Pyongyang that have reached their worst level in years. In a bid to ease tensions, Lee suspended anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts along the border and ordered a halt to leaflet campaigns criticising the North's leaders by anti-Pyongyang activists. The president has said he will discuss further plans with top security officials to resume dialogue with North Korea that is technically at war with the South. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Priority for singles, higher quota for second-timer families to kick in from HDB's July BTO exercise Singapore Witness stand not arena for humiliation in sex offence cases, judge reminds lawyers Asia Japan PM Ishiba under siege after ruling coalition loses Upper House majority Business Bigger, quieter, greener: High-volume low-speed fans see rising demand in warming Singapore Singapore New home owners in Singapore find kampung spirit on BTO Telegram groups World Microsoft alerts businesses, governments to server software attack Asia Hun Sen calls Thaksin out, reveals historic role in Thai politics Business Singapore dollar faces downward pressure from US tariffs, expected policy shift North Korea recently opened a beach resort in the city of Wonsan, a flagship project driven by leader Kim Jong Un to promote tourism. But, the tourist area is temporarily not accepting foreign visitors, according to a July 16 note by DPR Korea Tour, a website operated by North Korea's National Tourism Administration. North Korea first needs to open the area to the outside world, the Unification Ministry spokesperson said, asked if South Koreans could travel to Wonsan. South Korea once ran tours to North Korea's Mount Kumgang area, but suspended them in 2008, when a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier. REUTERS
Hans India
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
South Korea: Unification minister nominee says North Korea is 'threat'
Unification Minister nominee Chung Dong-young on Monday said he does not agree with the view that North Korea is South Korea's "main enemy," instead calling the North a "threat. Chung made the remarks during a parliamentary confirmation hearing as the former conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration defined the North Korean regime and military as the South's "enemy" in the 2022 defence white paper. "I don't agree," Chung said when asked by an opposition lawmaker if he concurs with the view that North Korea is the South's main enemy. "(The North) is a threat." South Korea defined North Korea as its main enemy for the first time in the 1995 defence white paper. In the 2004 version, the expression was replaced by a "direct military threat" amid a conciliatory mood between the two Koreas. The former Yoon government referred to North Korea as an "enemy" for the first time in six years in the 2022 defence white paper, after the liberal Moon Jae-in administration dropped the labelling in the 2018 and 2020 editions. In late 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un defined inter-Korean relations as those between "two states hostile to each other," vowing not to seek reconciliation and unification with South Korea. He also called the South his country's "primary foe." On a now-suspended inter-Korean military tension reduction pact, Chung said he thinks the government will be able to approve its restoration in a Cabinet meeting, reported Yonhap news agency. In June last year, the former Yoon government fully suspended the 2018 military agreement signed under the Moon administration in response to the North's repeated trash balloon campaigns and attempts to disrupt GPS signals near border islands. The military pact calls for halting all hostile acts against each other and setting up land and maritime buffer zones where artillery firing and drills are suspended. Chung said before approving the restoration of the deal, he believes South Korea could take "interim" steps by refraining from military measures at sea and on land that are banned under the agreement. Meanwhile, Chung raised the need to consider changing the name of the unification ministry, suggesting the Ministry of the Korean Peninsula could be one of the choices for the new name. A controversy has recently emerged over whether South Korea should change the name of the Ministry of Unification in charge of inter-Korean affairs by dropping the unification reference after the North's leader vowed not to seek unification with the South. "This would be a very important issue that needs to be discussed with the National Assembly," Chung said. Some liberal experts insist the name change would help dispel North Korea's doubts about South Korea's possible pursuit of absorption-based unification and set the stage for resuming inter-Korean dialogue. But conservatives and even some former liberal unification ministers are opposed to the name change, saying it could be misunderstood as South Korea not seeking unification. The Constitution stipulates South Korea will seek national unification in a peaceful manner. On North Korea's stance of "two hostile states," Chung said he thinks it was the North's response to the former South Korean government's hard-line stance against Pyongyang. Calling the way that East and West Germany unified a "pragmatic" approach, the nominee assessed that they pursued unification through exchanges and cooperation while effectively recognising them as two separate states. "What the Lee Jae Myung government needs to pursue is pragmatism," he said. Chung said former liberal President Moon Jae-in's proposal in 2017 to suspend a joint military exercise with the United States helped resume inter-Korean dialogue on the occasion of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. "This is an issue that needs to be discussed at meetings of the National Security Council," Chung said. Chung, a journalist-turned-lawmaker, was nominated last month as the first unification minister under the Lee Jae Myung administration. He previously served as unification minister in 2004-05 under former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun.
