Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said the following two to three years will be the turning point for inter-Korean issues, including North Korea’s nuclear program.

The minister said in an address to a forum organized by conservative groups on strategies concerning North Korea that the Stalinist state claims it will be a powerful nation by 2012 and the Korean Peninsula as well as neighboring nations will all face political turning points.

Hyun stressed that it will be at around this time that North Korea will need to make a choice.

The minister added that what South Korea should do is to create a multifaceted response with a long-term view of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.