New unification minister willing to meet N. Koreans, but tough tone on nukes

(ATTN: UPDATES with minister's softer approach in paras 5-8)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- Seoul's new unification minister said Thursday he will
seek to resume humanitarian aid and meet with North Korean officials to mend
inter-Korean relations, but retained his tough message on the North's nuclear
weapons program.

Hyun In-taek, a hawkish foreign policy expert, took over the post from a moderate
official amid escalating tension along the inter-Korean border.
"For the peace of the Korean Peninsula and the advancement of inter-Korean
relations, I am willing to meet and talk with North Korea's responsible officials
anytime, anywhere, on any agenda and in any form," Hyun said at his inauguration
ceremony.
President Lee Myung-bak's pick of Hyun in a Cabinet reshuffle last month signaled
there will be no shift in Seoul's stance toward Pyongyang, despite the North's
criticisms and threats of retaliation.
A political science professor at Korea University in Seoul, Hyun was a major
architect of Lee's policy theme that pledges to raise North Korea's per capita
income to US$3,000 by the next decade if Pyongyang gives up its nuclear weapons
program. The conditional policy so-called "Denuclearization, Openness, 3000" was
a major break from his liberal predecessors, who provided aid to improve
cross-border relations.
Pyongyang has rejected the conditional approach as "vicious," allegedly fearing
that the rich South Korea may try to absorb the North.
On Sunday, North Korea warned that "inter-Korean relations will grow worse and be
pushed to collapse" if Hyun takes office.
Mindful of Pyongyang's hostile reaction, Hyun did not mention the controversial
Denuclearization, Openness, 3000 campaign in his speech and instead used a softer
slogan known as "Co-existence, Co-prosperity."
Pyongyang warned of military clashes in recent weeks in response to Seoul's
"confrontational" policy, and South Korean intelligence officials say the North
appears to be preparing to test-launch a long-range missile.
The new minister called for Pyongyang's denuclearization, but pledged his efforts
to resume humanitarian assistance for the impoverished North. Shipments of rice
and fertilizer that Seoul had sent to the North for decades were suspended after
Lee took office a year ago.
"North Korea needs to denuclearize so as to fully improve inter-Korean relations
and become a member of the international community," Hyun said, adding Seoul
"will actively cooperate to meet North Korean needs in humanitarian assistance."
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)