Vice unification minister stresses need to 'disentangle' fractured inter-Korean ties

Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-jung / Courtesy of the unification ministry

New Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-jung said Monday the government needs to start with small steps, including reopening now-suspended inter-Korean communication lines, to "disentangle" fractured relations and build trust with North Korea.

Kim made the remarks in his inauguration speech, as he took office as the first vice unification minister under President Lee Jae Myung, who has pledged to ease military tensions and pursue dialogue with North Korea to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

"Starting from small things, like opening communication lines between the South and the North, the raveled inter-Korean relations should be disentangled," Kim noted. "Inter-Korean trust should be build piece by piece, without haste even though there is a long way to go."

As inter-Korean ties drastically soured under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration, North Korea has shut down communication with South Korea since April 2023. South Korea continues to place daily calls to the North through an inter-Korean liaison communication line and a military hotline, but the calls have gone unanswered ever since.

"Peace on the Korean Peninsula has reached a dead end worse than we have ever imagined," Kim said, referring to the prolonged lack of inter-Korean communication and Pyongyang's ongoing efforts to distance itself from Seoul.

The vice minister emphasized Lee's remarks that "peace is better than war, however expensive it is," reiterating the president's pledge to build peace on the peninsula through dialogue and cooperation with North Korea.