President-elect Lee Myung-bak is set to close the Unification Ministry and four other ministries as part of his efforts to streamline the government, an aide to Lee said Wednesday.
The decision to shut down the Unification Ministry is in line with Lee's pledges to limit his conservative incoming government's relations with North Korea unless the North abandons its nuclear arsenal.
Six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions are deadlocked over Pyongyang's refusal to present a complete list of its nuclear programs.
However, the possibility of parliamentary approval of Lee's organizational reform bill is uncertain, as the 138-seat UNDP, which is capable of mustering a majority of 150 seats in the National Assembly in conjunction with minor liberal parties, opposes the closure of the Unification Ministry.
The UNDP insists the Unification Ministry is indispensable to Seoul's engagement policy with Pyongyang. Lee's GNP controls 128 seats.
The four others to be closed or merged are maritime affairs, information-communication, gender equality and science-technology, according to the aide working for Lee's transition team.
Under the proposed restructuring of government organizations, which is subject to parliamentary approval, the 18 ministries would be reduced to 13. Lee's incoming government is planning to appoint a non-portfolio minister in charge of political affairs to meet the the constitutional requirement of at least 15 members for the Cabinet.
The transition team will deliver the blueprint for the changes to major political parties, including the liberal pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) and the conservative Grand National Party (GNP), later Wednesday.
The restructuring plan calls for the merger of the Ministry of Planning and Budget into the Ministry of Finance and Economy. It also envisages a merger of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The Ministry of Information and Communication and the Ministry of Science and Technology are to be absorbed into the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Education, respectively. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is expected to be merged with the Ministry of Health and Welfare.