By Chung Min-uck
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Friday his ministry will actively seek to create favorable global conditions for the peaceful unification of South and North Korea.
"We will make aggressive and active efforts to create an environment favorable to peaceful unification," said Seoul's top diplomat in a speech at a local forum. "The coming four years will mark a watershed in our efforts to build peace on the Korean peninsula."
"Unification" has become a buzzword after President Park Geun-hye said the Korean peninsula's unification would be a "bonanza" in terms of economic benefits.
The 1950-53 Korean War divided the peninsula into the capitalist South and the communist North, and the two Koreas technically remain at war because hostilities ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Yun further noted that Park's push for unification reflects the benefits it would bring in the security sector as well.
The minister explained that Pyongyang may now face a new round of challenges similar to what it went through in the 1970s when communist China established diplomatic relations with the U.S., and the 1990s when the Berlin Wall was demolished in the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union.
"I think now is a time when upheaval is taking place simultaneously regarding the situation on the Korean peninsula as well as in world politics," Yun said. "How North Korea will ride things out this time will be a key point of interest."
More than two years have passed since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took control of the Stalinist country, but his regime appears shaky in the eyes of some experts.
In December, Kim executed Jang Song-thaek, his uncle and former No. 2 man, which led some experts to suggest the 31-year-old leader was losing his grip on his domestic power base.
China's open criticism of North Korea's nuclear program has also undermined the North's diplomatic leverage given China is its most important ally.
Amid the change, South Korea has been taking a dual policy of using both pressure and dialogue in its efforts to make Pyongyang give up its nuclear weapons program.
"North Korea is seeking dialogue offensives, but it has not shown any change toward denuclearization. Rather, the country is pushing forward with its nuclear capacities even more," he said. "A policy of using both effective sanctions toward the North and principled denuclearization talks will be sought."
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Friday his ministry will actively seek to create favorable global conditions for the peaceful unification of South and North Korea.
"We will make aggressive and active efforts to create an environment favorable to peaceful unification," said Seoul's top diplomat in a speech at a local forum. "The coming four years will mark a watershed in our efforts to build peace on the Korean peninsula."
"Unification" has become a buzzword after President Park Geun-hye said the Korean peninsula's unification would be a "bonanza" in terms of economic benefits.
The 1950-53 Korean War divided the peninsula into the capitalist South and the communist North, and the two Koreas technically remain at war because hostilities ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Yun further noted that Park's push for unification reflects the benefits it would bring in the security sector as well.
The minister explained that Pyongyang may now face a new round of challenges similar to what it went through in the 1970s when communist China established diplomatic relations with the U.S., and the 1990s when the Berlin Wall was demolished in the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union.
"I think now is a time when upheaval is taking place simultaneously regarding the situation on the Korean peninsula as well as in world politics," Yun said. "How North Korea will ride things out this time will be a key point of interest."
More than two years have passed since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took control of the Stalinist country, but his regime appears shaky in the eyes of some experts.
In December, Kim executed Jang Song-thaek, his uncle and former No. 2 man, which led some experts to suggest the 31-year-old leader was losing his grip on his domestic power base.
China's open criticism of North Korea's nuclear program has also undermined the North's diplomatic leverage given China is its most important ally.
Amid the change, South Korea has been taking a dual policy of using both pressure and dialogue in its efforts to make Pyongyang give up its nuclear weapons program.
"North Korea is seeking dialogue offensives, but it has not shown any change toward denuclearization. Rather, the country is pushing forward with its nuclear capacities even more," he said. "A policy of using both effective sanctions toward the North and principled denuclearization talks will be sought."
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