SEOUL, South Korea's point man on North Korea said Tuesday the government's new unification vision under way should factor in changes such as heightened inter-Korean tensions and increased instability in global politics. Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho made the call as he attended a forum organized to assess the National Community Unification Formula, South Korea's unification plan unveiled in 1994 under the administration of late President Kim Young-sam. The government has been working on updating the nearly 30-year policy after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un defined inter-Korean ties as relations between "two states hostile to each other," and ruled out unification and reconciliation with South Korea. "As a means to eliminate instability in the regime and boost internal unity, North Korea has chosen the anti-unification, anti-historic and anti-national path of declaring a hostile state relationship, and threatening the Korean people with nuclear and missile weapons," Kim said. Kim said the new formul a should adhere to the basic order of liberal democracy, backed by domestic and international support for a peaceful inter-Korean unification. "The more circumstances are tough, the government will consistently push for peaceful unification based on the basic order of free democracy while staying faithful to its constitutional responsibility and historic calling," Kim said. Article 3 in South Korea's Constitution stipulates that the territory of the Republic of Korea consists of the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands, while Article 4 calls for seeking unification and carrying out a policy of "peaceful unification" based on the "basic free and democratic order." In a speech marking the 105th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, President Yoon Suk Yeol said unification is precisely "what is needed to expand the universal values of freedom and human rights." Source: Yonhap News Agency
Sunday, September 08, 2024