Ministry considers releasing older inter-Korean documents to public

North Korea

Published: 23 Mar. 2022, 18:50

Ministry considers releasing older inter-Korean documents to public

This file photo is dated to Dec. 12, 1991, when the two Koreas held a high-level meeting at the Walkerhill Hotel in eastern Seoul. The South Korean delegation was led by Prime Minister Chung Won-shik, and the North Korean delegation by senior official Yeon Hyung-mook. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Inter-Korean documents and communication records from before 1992 may be released to the public for the first time, according to the Unification Ministry.

According to a regulation issued by the Unification Ministry on Jan. 1, the ministry is looking to release inter-Korean documents and records older than 30 years.

Although Korea annually releases diplomatic documents older than 30 years, it has not done so for documents and records related to North Korea.

The Korean War that broke out in June 1950 with the invasion from the North ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, in 1953, leaving the two countries still technically at war.

The records that could be released include inter-Korean communication records from the administrations of Roh Tae-woo, Chun Doo Hwan, Park Chung Hee and Syngman Rhee.

This could include the high-level inter-Korean meetings from 1990 to 1992, including the first high-level talks held in Seoul, as well as the inter-Korean dialogues via Red Cross organizations in 1971 and 1972 for the reunion of separated families.

The recorded conversations between North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and South Korean chief of intelligence Lee Hu-rak in 1972 could also be released.

The records on conversations between the leaders during the inter-Korean summits will not be included, however, as the first one was held in 2000. After the historic summit between South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun became the second president to hold an inter-Korean summit, also with Kim, in 2007.

Most recently, President Moon held three summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2018.

The Unification Ministry said it plans to create a special committee of experts and officials to decide on which documents and records to release.

North and South Korean women participate in an inter-Korean forum on women's rights during their pre-forum meeting at Panmunjom on Nov. 9, 1991. The forum was held in Seoul later that month. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Ministry officials also met with the transition team of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday afternoon to discuss Yoon’s North Korea policy.

Yoon’s conservative government is expected to hold a more hawkish stance toward the North compared to the liberal Moon administration.

On his campaign trail, Yoon emphasized that there will be no incentives such as sanctions relief for the North, unless the North first takes significant steps toward denuclearization, which is in agreement with the North Korea policy of the U.S. Joe Biden administration.

Pyongyang, which last held a summit with Washington in 2019, ramped up its military provocations lately, testing over a dozen missiles this year including those on Feb. 27 and March 5 that South Korean and U.S. intelligence believe were tests of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the largest ICBM in the world.

BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO, ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]