Unification Ministry seeks to disclose more N. Korean information to public

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during Friday’s joint policy briefing by the Unification, Interior and Safety, Patriots and Veteran Affairs and Personnel Management ministries at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. (Yonhap)

The Ministry of Unification aims to disclose more information on North Korea to the general public in 2023, it said Friday during a New Year’s policy briefing to President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The ministry said it would focus on improving accessibility and convenience by releasing more North Korean newspapers and broadcasts to the public.

It added that it would operate a pilot program by publishing information from Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party and the regime’s main newspaper, with the help of related ministries.

The ministry also hopes to launch a North Korean information center, dubbed the “mecca of North Korean information,” in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in September. It plans to open its doors to the public after completing the construction in the latter half of 2025.

In Unification Minister Kwon Young-se's briefing to President Yoon, Kwon said he would take “preparing for a unified future” and “implementing proper inter-Korean relations” as the main directions for this year’s agenda.

The ministry will also seek to raise public awareness in South Korea on the realities of the North through presentations by lecturers and North Korean defectors. Some 164,000 people attended 1,126 unification-related education sessions organized by the ministry last year.

It also aims to devise programs to inform those living abroad about the North Korean regime.

On restoring relations with the North, the ministry was not optimistic about the prospects for a breakthrough in inter-Korean dialogue that would thaw frozen ties. Should any discussion resume, it will discuss issues such as family reunions and human rights violations, it said.

“Although inter-Korean relations are expected to be in limbo like last year, the Unification Ministry will try to pave the way toward a denuclearized, peaceful and prosperous Korean Peninsula,” Kwon said.

By Park Jun-hee(junheee@heraldcorp.com)