Unification minister sends signals to North from JSA

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se called on North Korea to return to talks with South Korea during his first visit to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom in the Joint Security Area (JSA) on Tuesday.

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, center, listens to U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Griff Hofman of the Military Armistice Commission, second from right, and Korean interpreter Shin Tong-ho, far right, as he tours the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom on Tuesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se called on North Korea to return to talks with South Korea during his first visit to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom in the Joint Security Area (JSA) on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters from inside Freedom House — the building on the United Nations Command-controlled side of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) across from the grey Panmungak hall controlled by the North — Kwon said South Korea “hopes to sit down (with the North Korean side) right here in Panmunjom to start discussions on inter-Korean issues soon,” noting that the village had previously served as a venue for meetings of leaders from both sides of the peninsula.

The unification minister blamed a “vicious cycle” of deepening tensions in inter-Korean relations on a lack of trust between Seoul and Pyongyang, but expressed his hope that a “warm wind” would thaw frosty relations between the two Koreas and called on the North to respond to the South’s proposals for talks.

Kwon expressed his belief that the only solution to resolve inter-Korean relations “is to restore broken trust through steady dialogue,” but noted the North’s refusal to receive communications from the South was point of concern for the Yoon government.

Kwon also said that the South does not harbor hostility towards the North, and that it will not seek “unification through absorption,” or bringing the territory controlled by Pyongyang under Seoul’s control, but also said South Korea would not “tolerate” the North’s “nuclear threats or armed provocations.”

Although Kwon repeated President Yoon Suk-yeol’s so-called “audacious initiative” of “economic cooperation and diplomatic support, as well as drastic political and military corresponding measures,” if the North “rejoins dialogue efforts and begins discussions on denuclearization,” he acknowledged that Pyongyang might be refusing to engage with Seoul at the moment in order to negotiate from a stronger military position later on — and to force the Yoon administration to change its approach to North Korea.

“I imagine they are not only trying to make technical progress in their missile and nuclear programs, but are also trying to bend the sterner aspects of our government’s North Korea policy in a way that is advantageous to themselves,” Kwon said in response to a reporter’s question about Pyongyang’s missiles launches and other armed provocations, while stating his belief that “our government and the South Korean people will not waver in their steadfast approach” to the North.

Before speaking to reporters, the unification minister toured several historic sites in the JSA, including the Bridge of No Return, where Korean War prisoners were exchanged between April and September 1953; United Nations Command checkpoints no. 3 and 4; and the site of the 1976 axe murder incident, when North Korean soldiers killed two U.S. Army officers sent to prune a tree obscuring the line of sight between the two posts.

The minister also examined up-close bullet holes left on a tower by North Korean soldiers firing at a defecting soldier in 2017, as well as the iconic blue United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission conference buildings that straddle the MDL.

The minister was guided through the JSA by U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Griff Hofman of the Military Armistice Commission and Korean interpreter Shin Tong-ho.

The final stops on the minister's tour of the JSA was the commemorative stone and a tree planted by former South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their April 2018 summit, as well as the blue bridge and open-air platform purpose-built for the two leaders’ private tea chat during their meeting.

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