Vice Unification Minister Eom Jong-sik says the main principle the government will abide by in terms of inter-Korean policies this year is to stick to its current policy.

Eom made the comment Wednesday, saying that desirable changes in North Korea are necessary to truly establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

He said that although the door for dialogue is always open, the North must respect its dialogue counterpart.

Eom also said that he does not agree with the critics who say that President Lee Myung-bak has taken a consistently hard-line stance in terms of his policies on North Korea.