By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Former President Kim Dae-jung, the architect of the Sunshine Policy of engaging North Korea, criticized the incoming government's plan to abolish the Unification Ministry, Thursday.
A group of 140 experts in unification and inter-Korean relations called on President-elect Lee Myung-bak's transition committee to drop the plan the same day. They insisted that the ministry should remain intact, saying it is important to ensure peace on the Korean Peninsula.
``The existence of the Unification Ministry signals that we have a strong desire for unification,'' Kim said, while receiving a courtesy visit from United New Democratic Party (UNDP) Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu at his home in Seoul. ``Does Lee think Korea will perish if he doesn't abolish the ministry?''
He also slammed the committee's plan to reduce the government to a 13-ministry and 2-agency structure, saying it has problems in both content and procedure.
Kim, the Nobel Peace prize laureate in 2000, called the plan a matter of great regret for Korea, the only divided country in the world.
As for the liberal UNDP's crushing defeat in the Dec. 19 presidential election, Kim said the party can regain public trust if it reflects on its past failures and shows a willingness to change.
UNDP candidate Chung Dong-young unsuccessfully ran in the presidential race, garnering just 26.1 percent of the vote, while Lee won a landslide victory on the ticket of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP) with 48.7 percent.
``The extra National Assembly session will be an important chance to show the UNDP's value. I hope the party will persuade the people in a logical and rational way,'' the former President said.
The transition team and the GNP submitted a bill to restructure the government to the Assembly Monday. If the bill gets parliamentary endorsement in today's session, the number of ministries will be reduced to 13 from the current 18. President-elect Lee will be sworn in on Feb. 25.
Earlier in the day, UNDP Chairman Sohn met with Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Ning Fukui to discuss bilateral relations.
``China has played a good role coordinating between the United States and the two Koreas. Even though the nuclear issue is still haunting us, I praise China for having committed itself to the development of inter-Korean relations,'' Sohn said.
The UNDP leader added he expects China to continue to help denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
The ambassador asked Sohn to help boost ties between Seoul and Beijing, saying that both nations have gained economically since the establishment of formal relations in 1992.