No dialogue with N. Korea possible if denuclearization comes first: unification minister - Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Thursday that resuming dialogue with North Korea would never be possible if Pyongyang is asked to denuclearize first.
He made the remarks in an opening address at a ministry-hosted academic forum on peaceful coexistence with North Korea.
"We cannot start any discussion by repeating the past approach; action first, compensation later, with denuclearization as a precondition," he said, adding that such an approach would keep any dialogue from ever getting off the ground.
Chung also argued that a breakthrough in stalled inter-Korean relations and lasting peaceful coexistence would remain out of reach, as long as the armistice system persists.
The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
"This is why the Lee Jae Myung administration has argued the armistice on the Korean Peninsula should be replaced with a peace regime," he said.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young delivers his opening address at a ministry-hosted academic forum on peaceful coexistence with North Korea in Seoul on Sept. 17, 2026, in this photo provided by the ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
For lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, Chung called for handling several issues simultaneously under what he termed a "basket" approach, which includes an end to the Korean War, institutionalizing peaceful coexistence, normalizing relations between Pyongyang and Washington, halting North Korea's nuclear program and reviving inter-Korean economic cooperation.
The issues in the basket are interconnected and mutually reinforcing, and should move forward together, he said.
Since taking office in June last year, President Lee has repeatedly reached out to Pyongyang to improve ties.
In his speech at a ceremony marking the Aug. 15 Liberation Day, the president proposed that the two Koreas begin talks on formally ending their long-running war and discuss practical ways to halt the advancement of Pyongyang's nuclear program, pledging to seek a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
