Transition team says unification ministry won’t be abolished

SEOUL-- The incoming government of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will not abolish the unification ministry handling relations with North Korea but help restore its "proper function," the transition team said Wednesday.

The unification ministry has been talked about as one of the ministries that could be abolished under the incoming administration's government reorganization plan, along with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

"There will be no abolition of the unification ministry," Won Il-hee, chief deputy spokesperson of the transition team, said during a press briefing. "The transition team will look into detailed measures to restore the proper function of the unification ministry."

Won said members of the transition committee have doubts about whether the ministry has fulfilled its basic responsibilities of promoting inter-Korean exchange and cooperation and providing humanitarian assistance to North Korea.

He also said the incoming government wants to depart from the approach of the current administration under which the presidential office has taken the lead on inter-Korean issues and the unification ministry has executed its plans.

"Transition team members say they will come up with measures to in fact reinforce (the ministry) under the new Yoon Suk-yeol government," Won said.

In a written briefing later in the day, the transition committee said the incoming government's North Korea policy direction is not a hard-line one, following the unification ministry's report to the committee.

During the report, the ministry and the committee held discussions on ways to pursue consistent denuclearization negotiations with the North based on principles and the normalization of inter-Korean relations, while leaving the door open for dialogue.

They also reviewed the security situation related to the North's recently intensifying nuclear and missile threats.

Separately, the transition team launched three task forces Wednesday to focus on creating a "digital platform government," government reorganization, and real estate issues.

The digital platform task force will be responsible for building an AI-based platform that will remove the partitions between government agencies, increase government efficiency and improve the public's experience with public administration, Shin Yong-hyeon, the transition team spokesperson, said during the briefing.

The government reorganization task force will aim to devise an "effective" reorganization plan for the new government based on the opinions of all seven subcommittees of the transition team, she said.

This task force will also review Yoon's campaign promise to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

On the real estate task force, Shin said its members will craft a detailed action plan to enable the implementation of Yoon's campaign promises on real estate by looking at taxes, loans, supply and other housing issues.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

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