[USFK Forums] Unification Minister in Bid to Smooth Ruffled Feathers [Chosun]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Thursday, February 16, 2006

Unification Minister in Bid to Smooth Ruffled Feathers

The Chosun Ilbo, Wednesday, February 15, 2006 20:38 KST

The new Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok on Wednesday sought to mollify conservatives, who believe the former academic’s past attitude to North Korea renders him ideologically unfit for the job. “I will do my best to achieve tangible results in dealing with the issue of prisoners of war and getting South Koreans kidnapped by North Korea back through consistent discussion with the North,” Lee said reporting to the National Assembly. Conservatives feel the government has been lackadaisical on both issues.

“I will also work to persuade the North to keep its word more. Assuming the North now keeps 60 percent of its promises, I’ll try to increase the figure to 70-80 percent,” he said. The minister also pledged to accelerate a special law to support the families of those abducted by the North.

Lee also promised to come up with new visions for inter-Korean relations based on democracy and the market economy to create an environment where the two abandon their ideological strife in favor of constructive discussion on the road to reunification. He vowed to narrow the gap between the government and the public and ease ideological tension in the country.

Asked what he thought about the North’s attacks on the main opposition Grand National Party, he said, “I asked the North to stop criticizing the GNP and it accepted it. But there are signs that the attacks could start again, so I plan to ask the North again.”

The new minister denied all speculation about former president Kim Dae-jung’s planned visit to the North in April. Lee said he “never heard about” a rumor brought up by GNP lawmaker Park Sung-beom that Kim would give the North US$500 million -- money said to be left over from a fund to pay the North so the first inter-Korean summit could happen in 2000. He also denied another rumor cited by Park that Kim would bring back some of abductees and POWs from his visit to the North, saying someone “must have been talking about the impossible.”

(englishnews@chosun.com )


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