President Lee Jae Myung speaks throughout a coverage briefing by the Ministry of International Affairs and the Ministry of Unification at Authorities Complicated Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
President Lee Jae Myung emphasised the position of the Ministry of Unification, relatively than the Ministry of International Affairs, in North Korea coverage Friday, addressing the latest rift between the 2 ministries over Pyongyang-related insurance policies.
In response, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young mentioned his ministry will “strengthen the lead” as the first participant within the Korean Peninsula challenge.
Through the two ministries’ coverage briefing in Seoul, Lee careworn the necessity for endurance and trust-building in inter-Korean relations.
“South Korea should act with endurance and do its utmost to scale back hostility between the 2 Koreas and permit even a small seed of belief to sprout,” Lee mentioned. “That position, I imagine, is one the Ministry of Unification should play.”
His remarks adopted a sequence of feedback emphasizing engagement with Pyongyang and have been seen as successfully endorsing the unification ministry’s place, reinforcing expectations that it’s going to take the lead in shaping North Korea coverage going ahead. Lee repeatedly underscored the ministry’s significance, citing South Korea’s distinctive standing as a divided nation.
“As a divided nation, the position of the Ministry of Unification is extraordinarily significant and essential,” Lee mentioned.
Lee expressed remorse over Pyongyang’s latest stance advocating “two hostile states,” saying it leaves primarily no room for communication.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, left, speaks throughout a joint coverage briefing at Authorities Complicated Seoul, Friday. On the proper is International Minister Cho Hyun. Yonhap
Acknowledging that creating house for communication won’t be a simple activity, Lee emphasised the necessity for a strategic shift in how South Korea approaches the North.
“With endurance, and thru proactive and main efforts, we should attempt to ease inter-Korean hostility and permit even a minimal stage of belief to take root,” the president mentioned. “That duty lies with the Ministry of Unification.”
Lee’s feedback come amid friction between the unification and overseas affairs ministries over who ought to take the initiative on North Korea coverage. Tensions surfaced earlier this month over a South Korea-U.S. coverage coordination assembly on North Korea’s nuclear challenge.
Whereas the overseas ministry was getting ready to launch the consultative physique by stressing coverage coordination with Washington, the unification ministry determined to not take part within the assembly and as a substitute held a separate session with overseas diplomats right here to clarify its North Korea coverage. It mentioned it could later pursue separate discussions with the U.S.
The disagreement has been extensively seen as reflecting a broader divide inside the administration between advocates of better strategic autonomy and people favoring a powerful alliance-based method.
“The Korean Peninsula challenge can’t be resolved by the ‘bureaucratic pondering’ ready for the U.S. approval and permission,” Chung mentioned at a seminar in November.
Concerning the inter-ministerial rift, the presidential workplace performed down solutions of any deep-seated battle.
“All issues associated to diplomacy and safety are being mentioned and coordinated carefully by way of the Nationwide Safety Council as we search options to points on the Korean Peninsula,” a presidential official mentioned.
One other key presidential official instructed The Korea Occasions that with no settled reply but on North Korea coverage, the president and his administration are “within the technique of looking for the proper path and, in that context, listening to a variety of views.”
A separate presidential aide added that the president encourages open debate. “He’s watching each side carefully,” the aide mentioned.
