Seoul: Unification Minister Chung Dong-young announced that the ministry is assessing the possibility of joining the upcoming regular consultative talks between Seoul and Washington concerning North Korea policy coordination.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the minister's comments followed reports that Seoul and Washington are planning to initiate regular consultations this week. The aim is to synchronize the pace and direction of their North Korea policy as both nations strive to reopen dialogue with Pyongyang to address nuclear issues. Jeong Yeon-doo, vice minister for intelligence and North Korea's nuclear issues, along with acting U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kevin Kim, are expected to start their regular consultative meetings as early as Tuesday.

In response to inquiries about the ministry's potential involvement in these regular consultations, Chung stated, "We are continuing to discuss it," as he headed to his office in central Seoul. He added that a decision would be made after reviewing the details. The minister also noted that Seoul and Washington seem to have agreed to alter the meeting's name from the one initially proposed, which emphasized South Korea-U.S. coordination on North Korea policy.

During a press conference last week, Chung emphasized that formulating policies on the Korean Peninsula and North Korea is a matter of sovereignty. He argued that the unification ministry should be the primary discussant when consulting allied countries on related matters.

In a separate briefing, unification ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho stated that the unification ministry is currently in communication with the foreign ministry regarding the issue, although there have not yet been direct talks with the U.S. "Basically, the foreign ministry handles communication (with the U.S.) on South Korea-U.S. relations, but I think the unification ministry can take on communication for inter-Korean relations, depending on the issues," Yoon remarked.