Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok says he is clearly opposed to attempting to change the North Korean regime.

In a discussion hosted by a group of senior journalists called the Kwanhun Club Wednesday, he stressed the role of the six-way nuclear talks, saying Seoul and Washington do not approve of Pyongyang's nuclear development.

On if U.S. policy could seek the North's nuclear nonproliferation rather than dismantlement, he said Seoul seeks to have Pyongyang abandon its nuclear program for the sake of South Korea's national interest.

On South Korean abductees and prisoners of war held in North Korea, Lee said the governments of the two Koreas will discuss the issue, not their Red Cross organizations.