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Lee In-young, nominee to serve as the new unification minister, talks to reporters about the South Korea-US working group in front of the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue on July 6. (Lee Jong-keun, staff photographer)

Lee In-young, nominee to serve as the new unification minister, commented on July 6 about the controversy surrounding the South Korea-US working group, stressing the need for “creative solutions” and emphasizing that “North Korea sanctions are not an end in themselves.” He also said he plans to “take the necessary measures” if his nomination is approved by the National Assembly.

Lee held a brief nine-minute press conference that morning on his way to his first day preparations for the nomination hearing at the inter-Korean dialogue headquarters in Seoul’s Jongno District.

“I have always felt that we need to distinguish the things we can achieve through the working group from the things we can decide on and do on our own,” he said.

Lee also stressed that “the ultimate objective is peace on the Korean Peninsula,” adding that “we also have goals in terms of advancing inter-Korean relations.”

“I feel like it’s simply a matter of reviewing the things the working group has been doing to date and taking the necessary measures based on my convictions,” he said.

His remarks read as an expression of a policy commitment to preventing the South Korea-US working group from impeding improvements in inter-Korean relations -- echoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha’s remarks from a July 2 press conference, in which she said South Korea and the US had “held discussions on improving the way the working group operates.”

Lee also said, “We need to build a ‘crow-magpie’ bridge that South and North Korea can use to travel toward peace and reunification at any time, and if I become minister, I plan to approach my job as a matter of diligently laying down the stepping stones.”

“If I’m to put down a first stone right now, I think it would be to enter a process of restoring dialogue amid the current chill in [inter-Korean relations],” he added.

“I’d like it to be a process where we are able to pursue humanitarian exchange and cooperation without delay, as well as a process of implementing the things the South and North have promised and agreed upon,” he said.

Lee further stressed that it is “not desirable under any circumstances to engage in actions that could create military tensions.”

“Whatever the situation, the best thing is for inter-Korean and North Korea-US dialogue to continue without stopping,” he continued.

Emphasizing that “communication is a necessary process, even if [the other side] is not persuaded,” Lee said, “I feel that even if we don’t have understanding and support [from the opposition], I need to do more than other ministers to create opportunities to communicate first and have dialogue with the opposition.”

A fourth-term lawmaker who has served as floor leader for the Democratic Party, Lee said that “imagination is one of the strengths of politics, which is a dynamic process of turning that into reality.”

“I hope to break through the obstacles here in the South while also breaking through the obstacles in relations in the North,” he added.

He went on to say, “During the hearing process, I hope to rebuild the dream of peace and reunification with the 50 million people of South Korea and 80 million Koreans, passing through those hearings so that I have the opportunity [to pursue that vision as minister].”

Shortly after his nomination as minister was announced on July 3, Lee emphasized the “urgency of reopening the path toward peace before its gate closes.”

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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