Unification ministry to add new divisions in charge of N. Korea assistance
2014/11/04 20:37
SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- The Ministry of Unification dealing with North Korean affairs is preparing to add new divisions responsible for providing humanitarian assistance to the communist country, a ministry official said Tuesday.
A humanitarian development cooperation division and a unification culture division will be added to the ministry while an existing information management division would be phased out under the ongoing ministry reshuffle that is now being discussed, the official said.
The official said the new divisions will be tasked with following up on President Park Geun-hye's so-called Dresden declaration, issued in March, under which Seoul vowed to increase humanitarian assistance to North Korea in return for trust-building between the rival Koreas.
The new assistance division may be in charge of developing large-scale aid programs to be launched through international organizations, such as providing assistance to North Korean babies and pregnant women, the ministry official said. He added that the ministry's existing humanitarian division will separately deal with local aid groups' humanitarian assistance to the North.
The new culture division, meanwhile, may be tasked with devising cultural programs to induce a unification of the two Koreas, the official said.
"In relation with follow-ups on the Dresden declaration, we have a lot to do, including cooperation with international organizations," the official said, adding that "We are making necessary preparations for the possibility of a thaw in inter-Korean relations."
Such moves inside the unification ministry came as hopes are growing for fence-mending between Seoul and Pyongyang.
In October, Pyongyang sent a top-notch delegation to the closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games held in South Korea. The North Korean delegation agreed with South Korean officials to hold high-level inter-Korean talks.
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