Minister of Unification: "North Korea Will Also Carefully Consider Dialogue Consultative Body"

Yoon Announces 'Unification Doctrine' in Liberation Day Speech
Kim Young-ho: "No Agenda Restrictions... Respond to Dialogue"
Prepared Without Prior Coordination... Possible North Korean Backlash

Kim Young-ho, Minister of Unification, predicted that the North Korean side would carefully consider the proposal to establish a South-North working-level dialogue consultative body, which was mentioned in President Yoon Suk-yeol's Liberation Day speech outlining the '8.15 Unification Doctrine.' However, this proposal was prepared independently without prior consultation with North Korea.

Minister Kim held a briefing at the Government Seoul Office on the morning of the 16th and stated, "Since we proposed the establishment of a working-level dialogue consultative body between the South and North authorities, we urge the North Korean authorities to respond positively." He added, "The door to dialogue is wide open, and any issues such as denuclearization, humanitarian matters, exchanges, and visits can be addressed," urging the reactivation of the inter-Korean joint liaison office and the military communication lines in the East and West Sea areas, which have been blocked by the North.

Minister of Unification Kim Young-ho is giving a briefing on the August 15 Unification Doctrine at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 16th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, President Yoon Suk-yeol announced the 8.15 Unification Doctrine, which inherits and develops the South Korean government's official unification plan, the 'National Community Unification Plan.' This doctrine supplements the fact that the National Community Unification Plan did not include the vision and strategies for unification that South Korea pursues, and it establishes strategies to achieve the goal of a 'Free Unified Republic of Korea.' It is structured in a 3-3-7 format, consisting of three unification visions, three implementation strategies, and seven implementation plans.

This unification doctrine is based on the recognition that the residents of North Korea, who have embraced the value of freedom, will be the driving force to lead a free democratic unification. Some expect that North Korea will perceive this as a declaration of 'absorption unification' by the South Korean government and react negatively. Since the end of last year, North Korea has defined the South as an 'enemy' and denied unification. This is the 'hostile two-state theory' promoted by Chairman Kim Jong-un.

Nevertheless, Minister Kim believes that the North Korean authorities will carefully consider this proposal. In response to the question of "how to induce North Korea's positive response to the establishment of a dialogue consultative body amid the ongoing deadlock," he explained, "In the past, working-level talks have started and then transitioned to high-level talks based on those. Since the proposal for the dialogue consultative body stated that there are no restrictions on the agenda and everything is open, North Korea will also carefully consider this proposal."

Besides the simple fact that dialogue has been cut off, the unification doctrine contains several elements that could provoke the Kim Jong-un regime, such as the inflow of information for North Korean residents and strengthening North Korean human rights policies. The inflow of information also conflicts with North Korea's moves to strictly control external cultural inflows through laws such as the Anti-Reactionary Thought and Culture Expulsion Law and the Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Law. When asked whether these policies were prepared through prior consultation with North Korea, Minister Kim said, "The government independently prepared these positions."

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