Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young speaks during his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap
By Kang Seung-woo
Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young has vowed to make bold changes in order to reactivate stalled inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation.
He also said cross-border relations should move forward regardless of progress in denuclearization talks between North Korea and the United States.
"South and North Korea should sit face-to-face again. Reaffirming their mutual trust and making good on promises, they have to restart the stopped clock on the Korean Peninsula," Lee said at his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday.
The four-term lawmaker was nominated earlier this month as part of President Moon Jae-in's reshuffle of his national security team.
"We will take the lead and push for bold changes to turn the focus from North-U.S. talks to South and North talks," he added. "To this end, we have to approach the issue with creativity and imagination, while making drastic decisions if necessary."
Despite a short-lived detente between the two Koreas thanks to three inter-Korean summits in 2018, bilateral ties have been strained since a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump ended without a deal in February 2019.
"The peace train on the Korean Peninsula should run on two tracks ― relations between the two Koreas and relations between North Korea and the U.S.," he said. "Even if North Korea-U.S. ties remain stalled, inter-Korean relations should steadily move forward, with their own objectives."
His remarks are in line with President Moon's stance that calls for independent inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation, separate from Pyongyang's halted denuclearization negotiations with Washington. To this end, the South has offered cross-border exchanges and talks, but the North has not responded.
The nominee admitted that the frayed ties between the two Koreas are expected to continue until the U.S. presidential election in November or even after the vote.
As for a resumption of talks between the North and the U.S., Lee said it may be possible partially, adding that North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo-jong's recent request for a DVD of U.S. Independence Day celebrations has left room for dialogue with the U.S.
Lee reiterated his stance that inter-Korean humanitarian cooperation should continue despite international sanctions.
"Issues related to eating, suffering and things that people want to see before they die should be handled independently of political issues," he said, referring to food shortage and separated family matters.
"Inter-Korean cooperation should also be expanded into borderless matters of diseases, disasters and climate change to which we can jointly respond."
He also suggested that the government supply rice and medication in exchange for water from Mount Paekdu and liquor made near the Taedong River through item-to-item trade, for instance.
Meanwhile, a fracas over the nominee's ideology occurred during the hearing.
Lee was a radical student and a former leader of the now-defunct association of university student representatives, a pro-democracy and pro-unification student organization in the 1980s, which has been called a "pro-Pyongyang" group by conservatives.
Rep. Thae Yong-ho of the main opposition United Future Party who is better known as a North Korean defector-turned-politician, asked Lee whether he had renounced Juche, the North's self-reliance ideology.
Calling the inquiry inappropriate, Lee responded, "I was never a follower of Juche in the past and I am not now, either." He said an ideology is not forced in the South and Thae has yet to fully understand the South Korean democracy.
Amid growing speculation over a possible reduction or withdrawal of American troops here, Lee said it was right to station them on the peninsula in terms of a strategic balance in Northeast Asia, adding that the government has no position on any cut or withdrawal of U.S. forces stationed in Korea.
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