Kim Jong-in: "Both North and South Called for Unification... But Did Not Seriously Consider Actual Unification"

Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, and Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General, are attending the 'National Assembly Global Diplomacy and Security Forum Inaugural Seminar' held at the National Assembly on the 8th, exchanging greetings. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Lee Ji-eun and Lim Chun-han] Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, raised his voice saying, "Both North and South Korea have called for unification, but it seems they did not think about practical unification," and emphasized the need to reset inter-Korean relations.

Chairman Kim attended the 'National Assembly Global Diplomacy and Security Forum Inaugural Seminar' held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 8th and said, "The Moon Jae-in administration has been putting great effort into inter-Korean relations, but I have never heard President Moon mention the word unification."

He added, "(President Moon) emphasizes inter-Korean relations and peace as a reality," and said, "It is time to think about how to set the relationship between the two countries to ease tensions and promote peace, and how we will redefine the concept of unification."

Chairman Kim pointed out, "The division of the Korean Peninsula was not caused by ourselves, but the United States, the Soviet Union, and the great power China bear responsibility for the division of the Korean Peninsula through the Korean War," and said, "Unification of the Korean Peninsula is impossible without the cooperation of the parties responsible for dividing us."

He continued, "Recently, it seems that the United States and China are not interested in the unification of the Korean Peninsula," and added, "Before the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea, I secretly heard a story in China that we need to calmly consider why China only accelerated diplomatic relations with South Korea after both North and South Korea joined the United Nations simultaneously in 1991."

Joo Ho-young, floor leader, said, "Since the Moon Jae-in administration, the failures of state affairs are too many to count on ten fingers, but among them, diplomacy and security, which are particularly important, are almost in a state of collapse," and criticized, "For our country, which is geopolitically very difficult, diplomacy and security are most important in the situation where North and South are divided and North Korea has advanced its nuclear missiles, but they are trapped in their own world and repeatedly failing."

He also criticized recent diplomatic and security personnel appointments, saying, "The newly established diplomacy and security line to fix those failures is also a cause of concern for the people."