By Kim Young-jin
Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik, who travels to China today on a rare trip there from his ministry, is receiving attention with a wide range of activities that reveal his muscle within the Lee Myung-bak administration.
His three-day visit to Beijing comes on the heels of a U.S. trip earlier this month. The back-to-back travels, unprecedented for a unification minister, are especially impressive considering he took over the post just two months ago.
During talks this week that include a meeting with State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Yu is not only expected to discuss Seoul’s stance on inter-Korean relations, but also touch on North Korea’s nuclear program and bilateral relations, issues typically handled by the foreign ministry.
Analysts say the trip highlights the considerable trust Lee has placed in his former chief of staff, including most significantly the implementation of what the administration calls a more “flexible” approach towards the North after a year of high tensions.
“Minister Yu has a very strong role right now compared to his predecessor,” Bahng Tae-seop, an expert at the Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI) said, referring to former minister Hyun In-taek.
“Given their long-standing relationship, he knows what the President wants and is confident of conveying that message. And Washington and Beijing are aware of the relationship and trust what he says.”
The expert added that with its term in office winding down, the administration was “working very hard” to make progress on inter-Korean relations in a bid to burnish the President’s legacy. The addition of Yu, who has been a close confidante to Lee even before his time as Seoul mayor, was likely seen as a way to emphasize that goal.
Since being named to the post in a September reshuffle, Yu has softened the ministry’s stance on Pyongyang from that held by Hyun, who was considered a hard liner. The change is also said to reflect the administration’s easing of punitive measures for the deadly sinking of the warship Cheonan in March last year.
The latest move by his ministry includes the delivery of hepatitis B vaccines intended to reach 1 million children in the North. That followed the decision to deliver $6.94 million worth of medical aid northward through the World Health Organization.
Under his watch, the Koreas have expanded cultural exchanges including reaching a consensus to quickly resume a joint project to excavate the site of Manwoldae, the royal palace of the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392) in the northern border town of Gaeseong. The government has also approved the repair by South Korean firms of roads between that city and the joint Gaeseong Industrial Park nearby.
Analysts say the measures reflect a consensus within the administration and society that the stalemate on the peninsula could not be broken with a continued hard line stance.
Coinciding with the warming trend, regional players have engaged in a flurry of diplomacy to resume the long-stalled six-party talks on Pyongyang’s denuclearization.
But while Seoul and Washington say some progress has been made during meetings with the North, the isolated state has yet to agree to the preliminary steps they demand before the negotiations resume. Those include the halting of its uranium enrichment program and international verification of the stoppage.
Over the weekend, Lee expressed hope during a trilateral summit with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Bali that countries “cooperate closely to get North Korea to make a decision to give up its nuclear programs.”
China, host of the talks, is seen as having the most influence over its communist ally. Yu formerly served as ambassador to Beijing.
Bahng expects Yu to press Beijing to convince the North to take concrete denuclearization steps and allow the multilateral forum to resume. The talks, which stalled in 2009 when Pyongyang walked away, also include Japan and Russia.