Date: Monday, June 22, 2020
Time: 10:30-10:40 A.M.
1. Acting Minister's Schedule
Acting Minister Suh Ho will attend the cabinet meeting at 10 A.M. tomorrow.
On June 25, Mr. Suh will attend the vice-ministers’ conference at
10:30 A.M.
2. Q&A (Extract)
Q. What is the Ministry’s stance regarding the North’s claim of
distributing 12 million leaflets toward the South? Also, will the
Government stop activists from sending leaflets toward the North? If
so, how would it be done?
A. The Government has already expressed on June 20 its position
regarding the North’s plan to fly leaflets toward the South. The ROKG
is thoroughly trying to contain the act of flying leaflets and
floating plastic bottles to the North, and at the same time we urge
the North to immediately withdraw its plan to send leaflets to the
South, as it does no good for inter-Korean relations.
The Government is closely cooperating with the police and local
governments to crack down on anti-North leafleting by some civic groups.
Q. Former national security adviser John Bolton’s memoir notes that
the North was reluctant to have the South Korean Government take part
in President Trump and Chairman Kim’s meeting at Panmunjeom. Does the
Ministry have a response to this?
A. There is nothing to comment on regarding claims made by a former
U.S. official.
Q. After the North demolished the
South-North Joint Liaison Office, the Ministry said that the North
should take due responsibility for its action. Has the Government
finished reviewing what measures it will be taking against the North?
A. The ROKG is conducting a comprehensive review of all possible
measures regarding this.
Q. The North has criticized the ROK-U.S. working group on numerous
occasions recently. Does the Ministry have a stance on how the working
group operates?
A. The Unification Ministry does not have a separate position
regarding the working group. I would like to note that the ROK and
U.S. communicate through a number of channels including the working group.
Q. Many are skeptical that the Government will enforce a strong
countermeasure against the North, which is why I ask for further
explanation on how the ROKG plans to ask the North to take
responsibility for its actions. Which related bodies are participating
in the review, and is the Blue House also involved?
A. Holding North Korea responsible for its action is a complicated
matter as inter-Korean relations are special relations established
temporarily in the course of pursuing unification. In this light,
seeking legal action against the North is very much different from
that between normal diplomatic relations.
On that account, the ROKG is comprehensively reviewing such special
conditions and studying related cases in search of a probable measure.
