Inter-Korean ties won't normalize if NK keeps pursuing nuclear weapons: minister nominee

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

North Korea

Sun, December 3, 2023 | 19:55

Inter-Korean ties won't normalize if NK keeps pursuing nuclear weapons: minister nominee

Posted : 2022-04-14 16:32

Updated : 2022-04-15 08:53

Unification Minister nominee Kwon Young-se, center, speaks to reporters as he arrives at a temporary office in Seoul, Thursday, to prepare for his parliamentary confirmation hearing. Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

The normalization of deadlocked inter-Korean ties will be unlikely as long as North Korea continues to modernize its nuclear weapons, the unification minister nominee said, Thursday.

However, he also said South Korea's new Yoon Suk-yeol administration will try to build the momentum to resume talks between the two Koreas, although it will be a daunting task.

Rep. Kwon Young-se, a four-term lawmaker who is currently doubling as the vice chairman of Yoon's transition committee, was selected, Wednesday, to head the unification ministry, which is in charge of inter-Korean affairs.

"North Korea's denuclearization is the only path toward the normalization of inter-Korean relations," Kwon told reporters.

Citing the recent threat of the North Korean leader's sister, Kim Yo-jong, to use nuclear weapons against South Korea, and the lack of any sign from Pyongyang that it will give up its nuclear program, the nominee said that it would be difficult to get stalled inter-Korean ties back on track under such circumstances.

Earlier this month, taking issue with Defense Minister Suh Wook's reference to South Korea's pre-emptive strike capability against North Korea, in cases of emergency, Kim threatened to respond with North Korea's nuclear combat force if the South opts for military confrontation. In addition, the totalitarian state is highly anticipated to carry out a nuclear test on the occasion of the 110th birth anniversary of late founder Kim Il-sung which falls on Friday.

"One of the biggest stumbling blocks to inter-Korean ties is the nuclear issue," Kwon added.

Inter-Korean relations have soured since the summit between North Korea and the United States failed to reach a nuclear deal in February 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam despite Seoul's repeated calls for dialogue and offers of vaccines.

The nominee said that he will make efforts to resume talks between South and North Korea, adding that he will make an offer for dialogue after taking office.

"Now that inter-Korean dialogue has discontinued and North Korea has been revving up its missile provocations, I am agonizing over how to create momentum for inter-Korean dialogue," Kwon said.

During the presidential campaign, Yoon pledged to take a hardline stance on North Korea, raising concerns that inter-Korean ties may further worsen under the Yoon administration.

"Many say inter-Korean talks did not proceed well under South Korea's conservative governments, but that is not necessarily so," Kwon said.

"I will try to build a cornerstone for the two Koreas to restart talks, thereby making significant progress under the new administration."

The nominee expressed his objection to the law that bans anti-North Korea leaflet campaigns, which drew complaints from international human rights groups and some U.S. politicians over the South Korean government's increasingly weak stance on human rights violations and accountability in the North.

In December 2020, the National Assembly passed the bill, which prevents mainly North Korean defectors and human rights activists from flying propaganda leaflets or other materials critical of the Kim Jong-un regime over the border into the North's territory. The current administration and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said that the new law helps protect residents in border regions and eases cross-border tensions.

"We need to look at the propaganda leaflets from a liberalist viewpoint, and controlling them by law is a problem from a constitutional perspective," he said.

Kwon also said that the new government will accept the positive accomplishments of the Moon Jae-in administration's Korean Peninsula peace process, which Yoon's side has denounced as amounting to a failure in engaging North Korea.

ksw@koreatimes.co.kr