Chung Dongyoung: "'Appeasement' Mischaracterizes New North Korea Policy... It's Normalization and Stabilization"

On August 12, Minister of Unification Chung Dongyoung stated that the recent policies of halting the distribution of anti-North Korea leaflets and dismantling loudspeakers under the Lee Jaemyung administration are not appeasement measures toward North Korea, but rather normalization steps aimed at easing tensions and establishing peace.

Yonhap News

Speaking to reporters prior to a meeting with business associations involved in inter-Korean economic cooperation, trade, and the Mount Kumgang project at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Minister Chung said, "Many media outlets are describing these recent preemptive measures as appeasement toward North Korea, but I do not think that is an accurate characterization."

Minister Chung added, "Baek Nakcheong described the past three years as an abnormal situation, an abnormal administration. It was not only domestic affairs that were handled abnormally, but inter-Korean relations were also completely and abnormally destroyed. The new administration's measures are normalization, stabilization, and confidence-building steps intended to restore abnormal conditions to normalcy."

Meanwhile, during the meeting, Minister Chung referenced the suspended Mount Kumgang tourism project, expressing regret and apology for the material and psychological damages and hardships suffered by participants in inter-Korean economic cooperation projects. He added, "If the Mount Kumgang tourism project had continued, I strongly believe the landscape of the Korean Peninsula would have been different this summer, especially with the opening of the Wonsan-Kalma district in North Korea."

He went on to say, "North Korea has responded with a hardline stance to administrations that treat them as an enemy, talk about preemptive strikes, and promote theories of collapse and absorption unification. However, if we approach them with goodwill, respect, and recognition, I believe North Korea will respond to us in kind."