South Korea replaces minister in charge of relations with North Korea
South Korean president replaces unification minister who played key role in last year's talks with North Korea.
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| Kim Yeon-chul (right) will replace Cho Myoung-gyon (left) as South Korea's Unification Minister. Photo: Yonhap. |
The South Korean presidential office announced today that Kim Yeon-chul, 55, a scholar who has always supported the mission of reconciliation on the Korean peninsula and heads the Korea Institute for National Unification, will replace Cho Myoung-gyon, according toReuters.
"He is the right person who can proactively demonstrate the President's vision of a new Korean Peninsula, a new community of cooperation and peace, by carrying out the main tasks of the Unification Ministry and promptly implementing inter-Korean agreements," a spokesman for the South Korean president said.
Mr Kim is a longtime friend of South Korean President Moon Jae-in and will be tasked with carrying out Mr Moon's goal of a "new Korean Peninsula". This is part of the biggest cabinet reshuffle Mr Moon has undertaken since taking office in 2017. The ministries of interior, land and transport, culture, sports, ocean and fisheries, science and technology, and small and medium-sized enterprises will also have new ministers.
The Ministry of Unification of South Korea is a government agency established in 1969 to promote unification on the Korean Peninsula after the 1950-1953 Korean War. The agency is tasked with promoting inter-Korean dialogue, encouraging North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons, and promoting practical inter-Korean cooperation through mutually beneficial economic cooperation and social and cultural exchanges.
