hankyoreh

Former Director of the Institute of National Unification Kim Yeon-chul holds a press conference following his nomination to become the next Unification Minister at the Office of the Inter-Korean Dialogue on Mar. 8. (Baek So-ah

"I think we’ll have to come up with a creative way to make the US and North Korea resume the negotiations after [the North Korea-US summit in] Hanoi and, what’s more, ensure that they succeed,” said Kim Yeon-chul, former director of the Institute of National Unification, who has been nominated to be South Korea’s next Minister of Unification, on Mar. 8.

“I intend to do my best to realize the new Korean Peninsula regime that President Moon Jae-in has heralded,” Kim said during a meeting with reporters at the headquarters for inter-Korean dialogue, located in the Samcheong neighborhood of Seoul’s Jongno District, on Friday afternoon.

Moon tapped Kim to head the Ministry of Unification during a cabinet reshuffle on Friday morning that affected seven ministries.

“My shoulders are weighed down by the burden of taking on such a crucial role at a challenging time. I’m well aware of how important it is to reach consensus and be on the same page during the process of implementing North Korean policy. Moving forward, I intend to be proactive about communicating and seeking advice,” Kim said.

“I’m talking about not only bipartisan cooperation but also actively pursuing intergenerational dialogue. For now, though, I’ll be diligently and sincerely preparing for my hearing,” he added.

When a reporter asked Kim what he thought about remarks by the US State Department that it’s not reviewing the option of lifting sanctions on the Kaesong Industrial Complex and tourism to Mt. Kumgang, Kim avoided a direct answer. “I would appreciate it if you could help me with the details as I prepare for my hearing. I’ll be seeing you frequently in the future.” When asked for his thoughts about the Liberty Korea Party criticism that Kim has a left-wing bias that disqualifies him for the position, Kim said, “I’ll also be providing a thorough explanation about that [at the hearing].” Kim responded to a question about how he would assess the second North Korea-US summit that was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 27-28 by saying that he largely shares the current assessment of the Unification Ministry.

Reporters also asked Kim about the sanctions relief that North Korea requested during the Hanoi summit. When a reporter pointed out that Kim was himself skeptical about the usefulness of sanctions and asked him what he thought about easing them, Kim said, “There will probably be some aspects of the things I’ve said as an expert [before being nominated] that I’ll have to reconsider as a candidate for a public position. If you bear with me, I think I’ll be able to provide a detailed answer.” When asked whether it was possible at the current stage to resume tourism to Mt. Kumgang and operations at the Kaesong Complex, Kim said, “We’ll have to try.”

Kim received his Ph.D. from Sungkyunkwan University in 1996 for a dissertation titled, “The Process of Industrialization in North Korea and the Politics of Factory Management.” He’s currently on a leave of absence from his professorship in the unification department at Inje University, where he has been working since 2010. From 1997 to 2002, he was a senior analyst on the North Korean research team at the Samsung Economic Research Institute. As a policy aide to Unification Minister Chung Dong-young from 2004 to 2006, he participated directly as a source of support from the sidelines during the adoption of the Sept. 19 Joint Statement in the Six-Party Talks and the restoration of inter-Korean relations. From 2008 to 2010, he served as the director of the Hankyoreh Peace Institute. In 2009, he was awarded the grand prize in the 15th Unification Press Awards.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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