Unification Minister-designate Kwon Young-se / Yonhap

Unification Minister-designate Kwon Young-se said Thursday it would be "difficult" to normalize inter-Korean ties as long as the nuclear-armed North Korea continues to advance its nuclear weapons development.

Kwon, a four-term People Power Party lawmaker, made the remarks as he appeared at his office for the first time in central Seoul after being nominated to lead the ministry handling Seoul-Pyongyang affairs.

"Amid a situation that North Korea has nuclear weapons and is continuing to make advancements in its nuclear development, I think the normalization of inter-Korean relations is difficult," he told reporters.

"One of the big obstacles (to inter-Korean relations) is the nuclear issue," he added

The North has recently ratcheted up tensions in the region, resuming the test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile last month that ended a years' long moratorium on such tests. (Yonhap)