Anchor: North Korea has destroyed symbols of unification from the eras of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il since its leader Kim Jong-un defined South Korea as its primary enemy. South Korea’s unification minister Kim Yung-ho said this removal could create confusion among the elites in the communist country. 
Lee Bo-kyung has the story.

Report: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un defined North and South Korea as two independent states at war late last year and has taken steps to undermine the concept of unification, sparking fears that this could result in ideological confusion.

Last month, Kim ordered the dismantlement of the Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification, which honored the unification efforts of late leader Kim Il-sung, and demanded the cutoff of the inter-Korean railway Gyeongui line, a project from the era of Kim Jong-il. 

Appearing on a KBS News program on Sunday, Seoul’s unification minister Kim Yung-ho said that these moves could create an ideological vacuum among the North’s elite group. 

[Sound bite: Minister of Unification Kim Yung-ho (Korean-English)]
“Erasing the achievements of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, who are the basis for hereditary power? Dismantling the Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification, calling it an eyesore? These moves are highly likely to create ideological confusion among North Korea's elite ranks. If internal conflict arises, the North is highly likely to engage in military provocations to ride out the crisis. The Seoul government takes the situation very seriously and has produced response measures such as military deterrents.”

The minister said that South Korea will firmly deal with North Korea’s refusal to recognize the Northern Limit Line(NLL), the de facto maritime inter-Korean border. 

[Sound bite: Minister of Unification Kim Yung-ho (Korean-English)]
“The government is closely watching where the North will draw its maritime border. What I want to say is that wherever the North draws the border, the NLL is effectively the maritime border that South Korea has maintained and its soldiers have protected with their blood. I would like to say that no matter what North Korea claims, we must adhere to this line.”

Kim then reaffirmed the government’s stance to keep peace by using power, saying that the nation cannot keep peace on the Korean Peninsula with an appeasement policy toward the North. 

Regarding the possibility of dialogue between North Korea and Japan, the unification minister said that he is not opposed to dialogue if it helps maintain peace on the peninsula and resolve the North’s nuclear issue. 
Lee Bo-kyung, KBS World Radio news.

[Photo : KBS]