Unification minister set to head to US next month

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon speaks at a dinner reception in Pyongyang last week, held as part of an event commemorating the 11th anniversary of the 10.4 Declaration reached between leaders of the Koreas in 2007. / Joint Press Corps

By Kim Bo-eun

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon plans to visit Washington, D.C., next month to persuade high-profile U.S. officials about Seoul's engagement-centric policy toward North Korea and to brief them about the latest developments on the nuclear disarmament talks, the ministry said, Tuesday.

Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said specifics of the minister's trip have yet to be fixed, but added the minister may travel to the U.S. to speak at the Korea Global Forum, an event that will be held Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C.

During his visit, the minister is scheduled to meet with key U.S. officials to share with them the South's updated North Korean policies and the country's stance to push forward and improve inter-Korean relations.

"He may elaborate about how better inter-Korean ties will help enhance progress on the North's denuclearization," Baik said.

North Korea has yet to carry out any denuclearization measures, though its leader Kim Jong-un affirmed his commitment for complete denuclearization during his third in-person meeting with President Moon Jae-in, last month.

The United States is asking North Korea to take concrete and verifiable denuclearization measures. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a meeting with reporters before leaving for China, said Kim Jong-un has allowed some international inspectors to monitor nuclear sites in the country. He noted that at least one site, the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, was on the list of "permissible sites" for inspection.

Still, it remains unclear which inspectors and when North Korea would allow them in.

Inter-Korean exchanges are accelerating since the third inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang. Last week, a large-scale event was held in Pyongyang to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the Oct. 4 Declaration reached between the leaders of the Koreas in 2007. Attending the event from the South was a 150-member delegation comprised of government officials, lawmakers, local government officials and civic group members.

At the event, the South proposed holding an inter-Korean parliamentary meeting in Pyongyang next month. Local governments are also preparing for exchanges with the North.

In addition, the Koreas are seeking to conduct inspections of a section of railway in the North this month, as part of preparations for a project to connect the rail networks between the South and North.

The leaders of the two Koreas agreed for a groundbreaking ceremony to connect the railways to be held within the year, and inspections of the railway sections in the North are necessary to enable this to happen within the agreed timeframe. However, construction cannot begin unless sanctions on the North are lifted.

The U.S. has maintained that sanctions will remain intact until full denuclearization is achieved.

The U.S. is seen to have disapproved of the preparations as North Korea has yet to take verifiable denuclearization steps. The chief of the United Nations Command (UNC), who is also the head of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), put the brakes on a plan in August for a South Korean train to head to the North to inspect a rail line along the West Cost. The UNC commander holds the authority to approve or deny South Korean personnel and equipment to cross the military demarcation line (MDL).