Unification Minister Lee In-young has stressed that it would be desirable for inter-Korean dialogue to resume in the first half of this year, considering it is in the second half of President Moon Jae-in’s term.

Lee made the remark on Tuesday during an interview with online media Tongil News. 

Lee said efforts toward improving inter-Korean ties or establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula must be pursued consistently regardless of political agendas and situations. 

However, he said actions or policies for such efforts could be distorted as being politically motivated ahead of presidential elections. When considering such complex conditions, resuming dialogue in the first half of the year would be best.

On South Korea and the U.S. kicking off their annual springtime military exercise on Monday, Lee noted that the drill is being carried out in a flexible and scaled-back manner.

Lee said if the North is more patient about the joint exercise and responds to it in a wise and peaceful manner, that would send an extremely good message to both Seoul and Washington. 

However, the minister said if the North raises tensions on the peninsula in protest of the drills, that could trigger the U.S. to take on a hardline or strategically apathetic stance.