Unification minister nominee Lee In-young
Unification minister nominee Lee In-young on Monday said dialogue with North Korea must continue under any circumstances, two days after Pyongyang rejected the possibility of another summit with the United States.
Speaking to reporters as he arrived at the ministry's inter-Korean dialogue office for work, Lee also vowed to seek a "creative solution" to achieve peace inter-Korean peace.
He said sanctions should not be pursued for the sake of sanctions but for realizing their ultimate goal of building peace on the peninsula.
When asked about the working group meeting established in 2018 to coordinate North Korea measures between South Korea and the U.S., Lee said a line should be drawn to distinguish things Seoul can do from things that should be discussed under the format, hinting that he could seek cross-border exchanges more actively.
The four-term ruling Democratic Party lawmaker was named to lead the ministry last Friday, amid icy relations between the two Koreas that worsened last month over anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns and the North's destruction of the joint liaison office in Kaesong.
Lee's nomination must go through a parliamentary confirmation hearing, however, the National Assembly can only express its view and does not have the power to reject it.
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