'Hostile two-state relationship must be transformed into peaceful coexistence'

Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young [Yonhap]
Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young [Yonhap]

Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young said Monday that the two Koreas must manage and transform their "precarious hostile two-state relationship into one of peaceful coexistence."

In a Facebook post titled "The spirit of June 15 must live on," Jeong listed the Lee Jae Myung government's proactive peace efforts toward North Korea before adding: "All that comes back is a silence that is harshly heavy and cold. The anguish and frustration only deepen."

"Even so, we can never let go of the thread of dialogue, nor can we stop walking toward peace," he said. "Finding a breakthrough at last — that is the great spirit of June 15 that President Kim Dae-jung showed us."

He went on to say that, "like the wisdom of the monk Wonhyo's concept of 'neither one nor two,' now is the time for us — who bear responsibility for the fate of the Korean Peninsula — to press on without tiring and pave the way of peace for the next generation."

Also Monday, the Ministry of Unification responded to a North Korean statement that had denounced the government's Korean Peninsula peace coexistence policy as a "peace mask." The ministry said the government "has consistently maintained its position of respecting the North Korean system and not pursuing hostile acts, in line with the consistent principles of its Korean Peninsula peace coexistence policy."

Ministry spokesperson Yun Min-ho, speaking at a briefing that day, cited the government's swift suspension of anti-North Korea leaflet drops and loudspeaker broadcasts shortly after the Lee administration took office, legislative measures to prevent their recurrence, and the government's prompt expression of regret over a civilian drone incursion along with pledges to prevent a repeat. He said these actions demonstrated "the will for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula through sincere action."


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