Unification minister advocates for dialogue over tougher sanctions in North Korea relations
Published: 11 Dec. 2025, 11:00
Updated: 11 Dec. 2025, 18:58
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- SEO JI-EUN
- [email protected]
![Unification Minister Chung Dong-young speaks during a press briefing at Sono Calm Goyang in Gyeonggi on Dec. 10. [MINISTRY OF UNIFICATION]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/12/11/22302035-1536-421d-a2a6-39cdb4554afd.jpg)
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young speaks during a press briefing at Sono Calm Goyang in Gyeonggi on Dec. 10. [MINISTRY OF UNIFICATION]
GOYANG, Gyeonggi — Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Wednesday that tougher sanctions and stronger pressure over human rights are not the path to gaining leverage over North Korea, rejecting arguments recently made by acting U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Kevin Kim.
"There are some who argue that we must toughen sanctions and strongly raise human rights issues to increase negotiating power with the North, but in fact the opposite is true," he said during a press briefing at a hotel in Goyang, Gyeonggi.
Chung added that the past two decades of nuclear negotiations show a consistent pattern despite multiple dialogues, pressure, sanctions and isolation, North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities advanced.
Chung said rebuilding trust requires "the courage to confront reality" and "strategic goal setting," citing Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri)'s estimates that North Korea's nuclear arsenal grew from roughly five to 10 warheads in 2019 to between 50 and 90 today.
Chung also argued that past precedents of adjusting South Korea-U.S. combined military exercises show that such decisions can meaningfully influence negotiations with North Korea.
"The suspension of the Team Spirit exercises in 1992 and 1994 had a significant impact on nuclear negotiations, and the postponement of the combined exercises in 2018 brought about a 'spring' to the Korean Peninsula," he said, emphasizing the need for flexibility.
Chung added that while the drills are necessary for enhancing combat readiness and for the transfer of wartime operational control, they are a "means and not an end" to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula.
The remarks come following what could be seen as policy friction between Chung and National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac over the administration's North Korea strategy. Wi said in a press briefing on Sunday that he does not view modifying the drills as a direct lever for restoring dialogue with North Korea.
Despite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' push for routine North Korea policy coordination meetings with Washington, Chung stressed that his ministry is the principal interlocutor on North Korea issues.
"Policy on the Korean Peninsula and inter-Korean relations are matters of national sovereignty," he added, "and on policy toward North Korea, the Ministry of Unification will closely coordinate with U.S. authorities whenever necessary."
Chung said U.S. President Donald Trump's scheduled visit to China next April will be a "critical moment," adding that "active measures are needed to create the conditions for dialogue and shift the situation on the Korean Peninsula toward peace."
He reiterated the government's goal of making 2026 "the first year of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula," and said Seoul would intensify cooperation not only with Washington but also with Beijing and Tokyo.
"We will actively communicate and coordinate with China regarding its role on issues pertaining to North Korea, and we also plan to cooperate and communicate with Japan," he said.
![Unification Minister Chung Dong-young answers questions during a press briefing at Sono Calm Goyang in Gyeonggi on Dec. 10. [MINISTRY OF UNIFICATION]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/12/11/cd3acf34-53e2-4454-98ea-2e36ecc144a4.jpg)
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young answers questions during a press briefing at Sono Calm Goyang in Gyeonggi on Dec. 10. [MINISTRY OF UNIFICATION]
"Defining inter-Korean relations as a de facto two-state relationship that pursues unification while peacefully coexisting is what the 'peaceful two-state concept' is about, and it is the core of institutionalizing peaceful coexistence," he said, citing a recent Gallup Korea poll commissioned by the ministry, which states that "around 70 percent" of the public supports the peaceful two-state relationship.
Chung said he urged the European Union to appoint its first special envoy for the Korean Peninsula, delivering the proposal directly during a recent trip to Brussels.
He said he told foreign ambassadors in Korea that they "should not stand with folded arms," especially Europe, when regional stability is "directly connected to Europe's own security interests."
Chung also denied a recent report alleging he was named in a testimony regarding politicians who received financial benefits from the Unification Church.
"I met Yun Young-ho [former head of the Unification Church's global headquarters] only once during my time out of office," he said in a statement released Thursday.
"While traveling in Gangwon with friends, we stopped by the headquarters in Gapyeong at the suggestion of one of our companions," he continued. "We had tea for about ten minutes and exchanged routine remarks about unification issues.
"That was the first time I met Yoon, and I have never contacted or met him since," he added. "I have never met Han Hak-ja, the leader of the Unification Church, and have no acquaintance with her whatsoever."
BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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