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| ▲ This photo, taken Aug. 16, 2024, shows Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaking to reporters over follow-up measures to implement President Yoon Suk Yeol's unification doctrine. (Yonhap) |
unification minister-N Korea
Unification minister denounces those supporting N. Korea's anti-unification stance
By Kim Soo-yeon
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho on Wednesday denounced those who support North Korea's idea of the two Koreas living as separate states, stressing that unification is the only way to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.
Kim made the remark at a ceremony marking a civic group's donation of unification funds, after Im Jong-seok, former President Moon Jae-in's chief of staff, recently proposed giving up the goal of unification.
Im's abrupt departure from his long-standing advocacy of unification drew criticism that he appears to align with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who defined inter-Korean ties as those between "two states hostile to each other."
"Ahead of North Korea's constitutional revision, there are some people in our society who volunteer to become 'cheerleaders' to support North Korea's anti-unification and anti-national stance," Kim said in a speech delivered by the vice unification minister.
The minister said North Korea's "two hostile states" stance can never bring peace to the Korean Peninsula, stressing that unification is the only way to do so.
"Our people will never follow North Korea's anti-constitutional and anti-unification claim," Kim said.
His remarks came a day after President Yoon Suk Yeol denounced political figures who have shifted from advocating for the two Koreas' unification to supporting the idea of living as separate nations, calling such views "unconstitutional."
At a year-end party meeting in December, the North's leader Kim Jong-un defined inter-Korean relations as those between two belligerent states, not as consanguineous ones.
In January, Kim called for revising the constitution to define South Korea as its "invariable principal enemy" and remove unification-related clauses as well as newly clarify the country's territorial boundaries. North Korea will hold a Supreme People's Assembly meeting on Oct. 7 to amend the constitution.
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