Unification Ministry cuts staff amid deep freeze with Pyongyang

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Wednesday it plans to reduce staffing in departments that oversee inter-Korean exchanges in order to downsize amid a deepening freeze in relations with Pyongyang.

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks during a meeting with representatives of civic groups that advocate the return of South Koreans presumed to be held against their will in North on Aug. 3. [YONHAP]

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Wednesday it plans to reduce staffing in departments that oversee inter-Korean exchanges in order to downsize amid a deepening freeze in relations with Pyongyang.

Under the plan, the ministry plans to cut 81 employees, roughly 13 percent of its workforce, and merge four teams that oversee inter-Korean exchanges and the operation of the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North into one, according to the ministry’s press release.

The tentative overhaul comes after President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a fundamental re-examination of the ministry’s purpose, arguing it should no longer act like a “support agency” for the North.

While acknowledging the possibility that policy blind spots could arise as a result of the downsizing, the ministry said it would operate with “flexibility” to accommodate a return to dialogue and exchange with Pyongyang.

The changes also signal a shift in focus from engagement to pressure in the Yoon administration’s priorities when it comes to North Korea.

New units to be established under the plan include a task force that will focus on the issue of South Koreans abducted or detained in the North.

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho, who was appointed at the end of July, pledged to prioritize the return of South Koreans held captive by the North in a meeting with civic groups earlier this month.

Up to 50,000 South Korean prisoners of war (POW) were never repatriated despite the terms of the armistice that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War, according to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea.

In addition to unrepatriated POWs, 3,835 South Korean civilians have been abducted by the North since the end of the war. Of this number, 3,319 were released or successfully escaped back to the South, leaving 516 who have never returned.

At least six South Koreans, including three pastors, have been taken to North Korea from China since 2013 and sentenced to prison for conducting activities that the North considers antistate crimes.

The ministry said it would also use the restructuring to strengthen its intelligence capabilities and raise public awareness on North Korean issues, including reunification scenarios.

According to the ministry, the restructuring is intended to reflect the ongoing freeze in relations between Seoul and Pyongyang.

“The [restructuring] plan factored in the suspension of inter-Korean exchanges and dialogue and is grounded in the belief that a flexible, competitive and efficient organization that can adapt to international political circumstances is necessary,” Vice Unification Minister Moon Seoung-hyun told reporters last month.

The ministry plans to begin downsizing at the end of the six-day public notice period and after a vice-ministerial meeting on Aug. 31 and a Cabinet meeting on Sept. 5.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]