Recent reports confirm that former Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung met with a ranking North Korean official at the North's Gaeseong Industrial Complex on Thursday.

The ex-minister said that he discussed overall inter-Korean concerns with vice chairman of the North's Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee Ri Jong-hyok. The North Korean military was, at the time, conducting a field survey of the inter-Korean industrial park.

Lee also quoted the Pyongyang official as having doubts about whether the Lee Myung-bak administration has the will to talk with North Korea and as expressing mistrust in the administration's current North Korean policy.

Lee said he visited the complex and toured Gaeseong city with SungKongHoe University students from Seoul.