SEOUL, Aug 18: South Korea’s Unification Ministry reaffirmed President Lee Jae Myung’s policy of non-hostility and peaceful coexistence towards North Korea, explicitly rejecting unification by absorption, Yonhap news agency reported today.
“The government plans to consistently pursue measures to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and restore inter-Korean trust,” ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam said during a press briefing, referencing Lee’s Liberation Day address.
The ministry formally rejected former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s “Unification Doctrine,” which advocated for unification via absorption of the North. Regarding Pyongyang’s silence on Lee’s overtures, Koo said that the government “needs to wait and see,” Yonhap reported.
Lee has advocated for a thaw in the relations with North Korea since taking office in June, calling on civil society groups to stop distributing anti-North Korean leaflets. In June, South Korea and North Korea suspended broadcasts of military propaganda over loudspeakers along their borders.
In July, South Korea completely stopped broadcasting anti-North Korean programs on TV and radio, which had been vocally critical of the North Korean government for decades. South Korea’s Ministry of Unification has also allowed its citizens to contact North Korean citizens with prior notice.
Kim Yo Jong, a senior North Korean official and the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, criticized the proposal to return to dialogue and cooperation, arguing that Seoul stuck to its old habits despite loud words, maintaining a military alliance with the United States and continuing anti-North policies.
(UNI)
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