New S. Korean gov't needs 'forward

Unification Minister Lee In-young speaks during a press conference at the Office of the Inter-Korean Dialogue, April 6. Yonhap

South Korea's outgoing point man on North Korea urged the country's incoming administration Wednesday to adopt a "forward-looking" approach toward North Korea, especially in order to prevent nuclear weapons testing amid heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Unification Minister Lee In-young made the remarks during his last regular press conference in his capacity as the liberal Moon Jae-in government's top official on Pyongyang.

Earlier this week, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued a statement warning that her country could use nuclear forces against South Korea to "take initiative at the outset of war."

"The North has broken its moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and there are many signs regarding nuclear weapons tests as well. We must put an end to this right here," Lee said.

A silver lining is that the North has not crossed the "red line" yet in terms of the moratorium on nuclear testing, which is regarded as a far more serious strategic provocation than the launching of a long-range missile on a lofted angle. Even China and Russia did not conceal their uneasiness or anger over the North's previous underground nuclear weapons tests.

Concerns have grown about the future of already soured inter-Korean ties, with Moon, who has endeavored to advance the Korea peace process, set to be succeeded by Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party in May.

The minister said the Yoon administration needs to seek a "very forward-looking and active policy for peace" to stop the North from testing its nuclear weapons and create momentum for the resumption of dialogue. He raised the need for Yoon to take a "contrarian" approach amid the widespread view that conservative South Korean administrations tend to be more hawkish toward Pyongyang than liberal ones.

Meanwhile, a senior ministry official said later that the South has reached out to the North to confirm of the fate of the South Korean-built facilities at the Mount Geumgang resort, after detecting signs of the North dismantling some of them.

"We have asked the North (for confirmation) via inter-Korean communication lines but it has not made any official announcement," the official said on condition of anonymity, referring to a floating hotel known as Haegumgang.

Pyongyang had earlier announced that it would remove the facilities at Mount Geumgang, once regarded as a key symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation and economic cooperation, since leader Kim called for tearing down all "unpleasant-looking" facilities in 2019.

Tensions have escalated recently on the Korean Peninsula after the North launched its first ICBM since November 2017, formally ending its self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile testing, last month.

Observers here voice worries that the North could engage in additional provocative acts, like a nuclear weapons test, on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the birth of its founding leader Kim Il-sung, April 15, and the founding anniversary of the North Korean People's Revolutionary Army, April 25.

They say Pyongyang may try to use additional provocations to put more pressure on the new South Korean government to be launched May 10 and the Joe Biden administration ahead of the mid-term elections in November. (Yonhap)