 | | An inside view of the Ministry of Unification / Yonhap |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's transition team denied media reports about the doomed fate of the Ministry of Unification, saying it never considered abolishing the ministry.
In fact, the opposite is true, according to deputy spokesman Won Il-hee.
Won said during a regular press briefing on Wednesday that the transition committee is preparing a plan to diverge from the current policies led by the Moon Jae-in administration and implemented by the ministry, to reinforce the ministry's inherent duties and functions, such as inter-Korean exchange and cooperation as well as humanitarian aid.
"Some media reported that the Ministry of Unification would be abolished, but that has never been considered. The transition committee members will ponder ways to help the ministry regain its inherent role and functions and work autonomously," he said.
When asked what he meant about the ministry's inherent role and functions, he said inter-Korean exchange and humanitarian aid are two of the important roles the ministry was supposed to fulfill.
According to Won, the members of the presidential committee on security and foreign policy are convinced that the ministry has failed to fulfill its initial goals, as key decisions on inter-Korean relations were made in and dominated by Cheong Wa Dae. Won said that the top-down way of decision-making has made it difficult for the unification ministry to live up to its commitment to promote inter-Korean relations and exchanges.
The abolishing of the unification ministry, which had been established to promote and manage inter-Korean relations, was considered by the presidential transition team of Lee Myung-bak when he was elected president in 2007. The premise for the ministry's proposed abolition was the supposed duplication of roles between the unification and foreign ministries. For example, North Korea's missile and nuclear programs are international security issues, and negotiations to resolve the security threat had taken the form of international talks. The foreign ministry is responsible for the nuclear talks.
At the time, some experts questioned whether the unification ministry should exist at all due to the international nature of North Korea issues.
But the ministry survived the government reshuffle back then.
The unification ministry was one of the three ministries that were speculated to have uncertain futures if Yoon is sworn in as president on May 10. The two others are the ministries of gender equality and education.
The presidential transition committee said the gender equality ministry may be abolished in the government shake-up as announced before. Presidential Spokesperson Shin Yong-hyun told reporters that President-elect Yoon's stance on the ministry has been consistent, reiterating his campaign pledge to abolish it.
The fate of the ministries will be discussed by a subcommittee designed for the government shake-up.
The transition committee announced that it has established three task force teams, one for the government shake-up and two others for digital platform government and real estate, respectively.
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