Date: Monday, March 2, 2020
Time: 10:30-10:35 A.M.
1. Minister's Schedule
Minister Kim Yeon Chul will attend the interpellation session of the
National Assembly today at 2 P.M.
On March 3, Minister Kim will be present at the cabinet meeting at
10 A.M.
On March 4, Mr. Kim will attend the plenary session of the National
Assembly’s Foreign Affairs & Unification Committee at 2 P.M.
2. Vice Minister's Schedule
Vice Minister Suh Ho will attend a session of the National
Assembly’s Foreign Affairs & Unification Committee tomorrow at
11:30 A.M.
On March 4, Vice Minister Suh will be present at the plenary session
of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs & Unification Committee
at 2 P.M.
On March 5, Mr. Suh will appear at the vice-minister’s conference at
10:30 A.M.
3. Q&A (Extract)
Q. Yesterday, President Moon suggested overseas cooperation on
quarantine and health measures in his March First Independence
Movement address. Is the government planning to make an official
proposal or raise it through another channel? And speaking of
cooperation, what kind cooperation do you have in mind?
A. The President emphasized the need for cross-border cooperation in
the midst of unconventional security threats like COVID19 with
adjacent countries including North Korea, China, Japan, and nearby
Southeast Asian nations. The government will prepare for cooperation
in relevant areas such as health care, prevention of diseases, natural
disasters, and climate change as relations between the two Koreas improve.
Q. So are you saying that the unification ministry did not make any
proposals yet?
A: No. So far there was no aid request from the North nor specific
discussion on inter-Korean cooperation.
Q. Are there any requests for cooperation from international or
private organizations with regards to providing aid to North Korea?
A. Although consultations are taking place with some organizations,
there is no organization that meets specific requirements to carry out
aid to North Korea yet.
Q. North Korea convened an expanded politburo meeting two days ago.
Does the unification ministry have anything to say about this? Also,
do you have any assessment regarding the dismissal of Ri Man Gon at
the meeting?
A. There is not much to say about the dismissal of personnel within
North Korean regime. The North usually does not publicly announce
appointment or dismissal of the party’s department and office chiefs.
In case of Ri Man Gon and Pak Thae Dok, the North stated that they
were dismissed from the posts of vice-chairmen of Central Committee of
the party, but there was no mention of the two being dismissed from
their positions within the party’s departments and offices. So we have
to look into it a little more in this part.
Q. I just have a follow-up question on that. Do you think the North
has an intention behind the public announcement of the dismissal? Some
say that it is to get a grip on party elites. Do you have any comment
on this?
A. I believe the meeting was held to fight against corruption among
party executives and to strengthen epidemic prevention efforts.
