South Korea's President Lee Myung Bak put a former ambassador to China in charge of North Koreanaffairs, in a move that may signal an easing of policies towardKim Jong Il's regime before next year's elections.
Yu Woo Ik takes over from Hyun In Taek as UnificationMinister, Lee's office said in a statement yesterday. Hyunhelped implement the harder stance toward North Korea that Leepromised when elected in 2008, and was vilified by state-runKorea Central News Agency as a "traitor" and inventor of "theconfrontation policy."
The appointment comes amid signs of a thaw in relationsbetween the civil war foes, which soured last year over attacksthat killed 50 South Koreans, with the two countries last monthagreeing to try to revive talks on the North's nuclear weapons.Lee may also be seeking a more moderate policy as he tries torestore his party's popularity before elections next year.
"The relationship with North Korea has deteriorated toomuch and people think Lee is responsible for that," said PaikHak Soon, director of inter-Korean relations at the SejongInstitute outside Seoul. "People are questioning whether thecurrent policy on North Korea risks creating a militaryconfrontation at a time when the global economy is in trouble."
Lee's approval rating plunged from 76 percent in the firstweek he took office in February 2008, to 33 percent last week,according to Realmeter, a South Korean polling firm in Seoul.While South Korean presidents are limited to one term in office,winning back voters will help Lee's Grand National Party in thegeneral and presidential polls next year.
Under Hyon, who was appointed in 2009 and once suggestedabolishing the Unification Ministry, South Korea tied aid andengagement to North Korea's progress in meeting commitments todismantle its nuclear weapons program. That approach rolled backthe "sunshine policy" of engagement with Kim's regime andechoed the policy set out by U.S. President Barack Obama of notrewarding "bad behavior."
Yu, 61, is expected to play an "important role" inpursuing a peaceful unification policy and improving relationswith North Korea as he served as President Lee's first chief ofstaff and especially as a former ambassador to China, thepresidential office said in a statement yesterday.
Yu was ambassador to China from December 2009 to May thisyear, and Lee's chief of staff in 2008. He said today that hisappointment won't mark a change in policy toward North Korea,according to Yonhap News.
"Yu may be able to do something to improve relations withNorth Korea as he is close to President Lee and the Chinesegovernment," Yang Moo Jin, a professor at the University ofNorth Korean Studies in Seoul , said before the reshuffle."North Korea may see Yu's appointment as a possible signal fora change in President Lee's hard-line stance against it."
The North Korean leader visited China four times in thepast two years. China is the regime's biggest benefactor,accounting for 83 percent of the North's $4.2 billion in tradelast year, according to the Seoul-based Korea Trade-InvestmentPromotion Agency. The North doesn't release its own data.
Wu Dawei , China's chief envoy to international talks onNorth Korea's nuclear program, met with his South Koreancounterpart Wi Sung Lac last week, China's foreign affairsministry said in a statement posted on its website.
Envoys from North and South Korea agreed last month to tryto revive the talks. North Korean officials were subsequentlyinvited to the U.S. for preliminary discussions.
"We reiterated that the path is open to North Koreatowards the resumption of talks, improved relations with the United States , and greater regional stability, if North Koreademonstrates through its actions that it supports the resumptionof the six-party process as a committed and constructivepartner," U.S. Special Representative for North Korea PolicyStephen Bosworth said.
While the North has called for the talks to reopen, SouthKorea said an apology for the two attacks last year must comefirst, a condition North Korea has yet to meet. Kim last weekmet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Siberia.
The six-party negotiations, which last convened in December2008, include the U.S., China, Japan and Russia .
The North shelled a South Korean island in November,killing four people, and was blamed for sinking the Cheonanwarship in March 2010, in which 46 sailors died.
Lee replaced his defense minister and army head followingthe shelling, vowing to strengthen the military and respond moreharshly to any further North Korean attacks. South and NorthKorea remain technically at war after their 1950-1953 conflictended in a cease-fire.
Three ministers were also replaced in the reshuffle. RimChe Min replaces Chin Soo Hee as health and welfare minister,Choe Kwang Sik takes over from Choung Byoung Guk as cultureminister and Kim Kum Lae will succeed Paik Hee Young as genderequality and family minister, according to yesterday'sstatement.
To contact the reporters on this story:William Sim in Seoul at wsim2@bloomberg.net ;Jun Yang in Seoul at jyang180@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net
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