New Unification minister “not to change relations with Pyongyang”

Seoul (AsiaNews) – The strategy vis-à-vis North Korea “does not change, at least for now. The appointment of Yu Woo-ik as Unification minister is a signal, but for domestic use. Both he and his predecessor do not want to make it easy for Pyongyang, which, before it can return to talks, must apologise for the attacks of the past three years,” a source inside the South Korean Interior Ministry told AsiaNews.

South Korea’s rightwing President Lee Myung-bak replaced Hyun In-taek wity Yu yesterday. The latter, a former South Korean ambassador to China, is politically close to the current resident of the Blue House, South Korea’s presidential palace.

Talking with reporters after his nomination, Yu said that he wants to create “the conditions for peaceful reunification and making difficult inter-Korean relations more secure.”

The appointment of a new minister “should not send a wrong signal,” AsiaNews’ source said. “This is why former Minister Hyun was appointed special adviser to the president on reunification.”

“The South Korean government is of one mind,” he added. “We are willing to make humanitarian concessions to the [North Korean] regime only if it apologises for its military provocations and shows that it uses aid for the people, not the army.”

Yet, the new minister has a past of “behind-the-scene” diplomacy with North Korea. “When he was ambassador to Beijing, he opened many channels of communications with his northern counterpart. He has his own ideas and political training. Even though the path may be the same, how it is followed might be different.”

“If Hyun stuck to principles, Yu is a pragmatist who focuses on results,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “The Lee Myung-bak administration sought to handle North Korea through a confrontational approach over the past three-and-a-half years, but this didn't work, so Yu will try to improve relations with a more flexible approach.”