SEOUL, June 19 — South Korea’s Unification Minister, its point man for relations with the North, stepped down today over heightened tensions on the peninsula, days after Pyongyang blew up its liaison office with the South. President Moon Jae-in “accepted Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul’s...
A view of an explosion of the joint liaison office with South Korea in Kaesong, North Korea, June 16. — KCNA pic via Reuters
Kim had offered to leave on Wednesday, a day after the North demolished the liaison office, saying he “takes responsibility” for the worsening of inter-Korean relations. In his resignation statement, Kim expressed hope that his departure “will be a chance to pause for a bit”. Analysts say the North may be seeking to manufacture a crisis to increase pressure on the South to extract concessions.
That meeting foundered on what the nuclear-armed North would be willing to give up in exchange for a loosening of sanctions. On Monday the left-leaning president gave a speech calling for inter-Korean dialogue and stressing the importance of peace on the peninsula.
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