Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong says that South Korea should take responsibility to help its brethren in poverty-stricken North Korea.

In a New Year's message to ministry staff, Minister Lee said that peace will not be established on the Korean Peninsula unless the problem of North Korean poverty is resolved.

He urged Pyongyang to realize that it will enjoy security only when its severe poverty is relieved through cooperation and mutual prosperity with South Korea, not through the development of nuclear weapons.

The unification minister said that the South should encourage voluntary civilian exchanges with the North under a clearly articulated principle. At the same time, he said that Seoul should approach major inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, like the joint venture Gaesong Industrial Complex and Mount Geumgang tours, from an economic perspective.