Anchor: Visiting Washington to discuss North Korea issues, Seoul’s unification minister tried to assure Pyongyang that South Korea is not planning to absorb the North Korean regime for unification. He said there is a need to find a breakthrough in the strained inter-Korean relations ahead of the 70th anniversary of Korea’s independence from Japan’s colonial rule in 2015.
Our Kim Bum-soo reports.
 
Report: Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae has assured North Korea that the South Korean government is not planning to absorb the regime in the North for unification.
 
Ryoo made the remark to South Korean reporters stationed in Washington on Thursday as he explained President Park Geun-hye's signature “unification bonanza.”
 
[Sound bite: Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae (Korean)]
"Ahead of the 70th anniversary of Korea's independence, there is a need to find a breakthrough in the South-North relations."
"I would like to reiterate that the government aims to pursue a peaceful unification and the [idea of] unification bonanza is not based on unification through absorption."
 
While acknowledging the "changeability" in the North Korean regime, he said the goal is peaceful unification.
 
The minister stressed that that the aim of achieving "peaceful unification" is stipulated in the South Korean Constitution. He also cited Park's remark at the third meeting of the Presidential Preparatory Committee for Unification last week that "the unification is the two Koreas going together." 
 
Ryoo added that three key factors must be jointly pursued for unification, including domestic preparations, such as establishing public support, improving the quality of inter-Korean relations and getting cooperation from neighboring countries.
 
However, he added that the issues of North Korea’s nuclear development and its human rights violations must also be addressed alongside improving cross-border ties.
 
Ryoo said he delivered Seoul’s visions on unification when he met with Wendy Sherman, the acting deputy secretary of the U.S. State Department, in Washington on Thursday.
 
Sherman said the U.S. fully supports Seoul’s visions on unification, including President Park's Dresden Initiative and pledged active U.S. support for resolving issues related to the reunion of separated families.
 
With Ryoo sending out a conciliatory gesture toward the North, another high ranking South Korean official visiting the U.S. specified that if the North takes responsible steps, Seoul could lift the so-called May 24 sanctions that it slapped on Pyongyang following the North’s sinking of the South’s warship in 2010.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.