Unification minister nominee voices need for changing name of ministry to highlight peace

▲ Unification Minister nominee Chung Dong-young speaks to reporters on June 24, 2025, after being nominated to lead the unification ministry the previous day, as he prepares for a parliamentary confirmation hearing. (Yonhap)

unification minister nominee-N Korea

Unification minister nominee voices need for changing name of ministry to highlight peace

SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- Unification Minister nominee Chung Dong-young on Tuesday raised the need to change the name of the unification ministry in a bid to highlight the government's efforts to promote peace and stability with North Korea.

Chung made the remarks as members of the country's state affairs committee exchanged views about the possibility of changing the official name of the Ministry of Unification by dropping the unification reference amid North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's animosity toward South Korea.

In late 2023, Kim defined inter-Korean relations as those between "two states hostile to each other," vowing not to pursue unification and reconciliation with South Korea.

"I think there is a need to actively consider changing (the name of the ministry) as unification can be sought on the basis of peace and stability," Chung told a group of reporters.

Chung, a journalist-turned-lawmaker, was nominated Monday as the first unification minister under the Lee Jae Myung administration. He previously serviced as unification minister in 2004-05 under former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun.

The nominee cited the restoration of the now-suspended inter-Korean communication channels as the top policy priority if his nomination is endorsed at a parliamentary confirmation hearing. Since April 2023, the North has not responded to daily routine calls with South Korea.

Chung also called launches of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border a "catalyst" of spurring inter-Korean tensions, emphasizing that activists here should halt such leaflet campaigns.

Chung said he supports a potential summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim, saying that the move will "greatly" help ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

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