Date: Monday, January 20, 2025
Time: 10:30-10:35 A.M.
1. Minister’s Schedule
Minister Kim Yung Ho will attend the cabinet meeting on January 21
at 10 A.M.
On January 22, at 10 A.M., Minister Kim will attend a plenary
session of the National Assembly’s Special Committee for Investigating
State Administration.
On January 23, at 10 A.M., Minister Kim will sit down for a meeting
with U.S. Chargés d’Affaires ad interim Joseph Yun.
On January 24, at 3 P.M., Minister Kim will visit a facility for
North Korean youth defectors without family on the occasion of Lunar
New Year’s Day.
2. Vice Minister’s Schedule
Vice Minister Kim Soo Kyung will deliver congratulatory remarks at
the entrance ceremony of a leadership course on unification policy
arranged by the National Institute for Unification Education today at
2 P.M.
On January 22, at 10 A.M., Vice Minister Kim will hold the first
meeting of the 2025 Council on North Korean Human Rights.
At 11:40 A.M., Vice Minister Kim will grant an award on behalf of
the Minister to individuals with distinguished commitment in promoting
unification cooperation.
On January 23, at 9 A.M., Vice Minister Kim will attend the vice
minister’s conference.
At 10:45 A.M., Vice Minister Kim will visit traditional markets and
social welfare facilities on the occasion of Lunar New Year’s Day.
3. Q&A
Q. Vice department director Kim Yo Jong expressed the North’s
position on diplomacy between the leaders of North Korea and Belarus.
Does relations between North Korea and Belarus, Russia’s closest ally,
have any ties with Russia-DPRK relations? Also, what is the Ministry’s
evaluation of Kim Yo Jong’s statement?
A. Vice department director Kim Yo Jong’s statement is a response to
remarks made by the President of Belarus, an ardent backer of Russia.
There is a need to further monitor developments between the two
parties. Meanwhile, the Government sternly stresses that all
diplomatic relations with the North should comply with UN Security
Council resolutions on North Korea sanctions.
Q. North Korea reported that General Secretary Kim Jong Un sent New
Year’s cards to heads of state, but personnel from Cuba who received
the card last year was missing from this year’s list. With this
implying estranged relations between North Korea and Cuba, does the
Ministry have anything to comment?
A. As you have pointed out, Cuba is excluded from this year’s list
of President Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s card recipients. The
establishment of diplomatic relations between the ROK and Cuba last
year, followed by the recent opening of our embassy in Cuba appears to
have affected the North’s decision.
Q. While North Korea continues to announce the completion of
regional-industry factories in line with its regional development
policy, some media reports question whether these factories are for
show, not in operation. Is the Unification Ministry aware of any such possibility?
A. There is nothing to confirm regarding such reports. However,
there is a need to monitor whether these regional-industry factories
are in normal operation and can actually see results as the North
suffers economic difficulties and an overall lack of infrastructure.
