Unification ministry reviewing participation in regular Seoul-Washington talks on N. Korea policy

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young speaks to reporters at the Government Complex Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Monday that the ministry is reviewing whether to participate in upcoming regular consultative talks between Seoul and Washington on coordinating their North Korea policy.

The minister's remarks came as Seoul and Washington were reportedly arranging to launch regular consultations this week to fine-tune the pace and direction of their North Korea policy, as both seek to reopen dialogue with Pyongyang in an effort to address its nuclear issues.

Jeong Yeon-doo, vice minister for intelligence and North Korea's nuclear issues at the foreign ministry, and acting U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kevin Kim were reportedly set to inaugurate their regular consultative meeting as early as Tuesday.

"We are continuing to discuss it," Chung told reporters on his way to his office in central Seoul earlier in the morning when asked whether the ministry would take part in the regular consultations. "We will make a decision after looking into the details."

The minister said that Seoul and Washington appear to have decided to change the meeting's name from the one initially proposed, which focused on South Korea-U.S. coordination on North Korea policy.

At a press conference last week, Chung said that formulating policies on the Korean Peninsula and North Korea falls within the realm of sovereignty, arguing that the unification ministry should serve as the main discussant when consulting allied countries on related issues.

In a separate briefing on Monday, unification ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho said the unification ministry is currently communicating with the foreign ministry on the issue, although there have been no talks directly with the U.S. so far.

"Basically, the foreign ministry handles communication (with the U.S.) on South Korea-U.S. relations, but I think the unification ministry can take on communication for inter-Korean relations, depending on the issues," Yoon said.