South Korea: New unification minister prioritises resuming dialogue with North Korea

Seoul, July 25 (IANS) 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.

--IANS

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