'NK food aid will be in line with global consensus'

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul speaks in a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday. He shared his views on South Korea's plan to provide humanitarian aid to North Korea. Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

South Korean government will continue pushing ahead with its plan to provide humanitarian aid to North Korea according to a general consensus of the international community, Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Tuesday.

In a press conference, Kim said the issue should never be linked with political affairs on the Korean Peninsula, and the government will garner diverse efforts to seek internal and external consensus over the plan.

"The broad consensus from the international community is that no positive or negative political factors should be considered when offering humanitarian aid," Kim told reporters in Seoul.

Toward this end, Seoul and Washington will continue negotiating the details to provide the aid package to the North, which Seoul hopes will also help revive momentum for dialogues with Pyongyang, Kim said.

The remarks came at a time when the North shows little sign of resuming talks with the South and the U.S. in the wake of the failure of the Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in February.

The breakdown of the summit has cast a gloomy outlook on the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, with the North recently conducting a series of missile tests.

Despite the growing uncertainty, South Korea reaffirmed its determination to continue taking steps to bring the North back to negotiations.

Last week, the unification ministry granted permission to South Korean businesspeople, who invested in the now-closed Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the North, to visit the site for maintenance of their facilities there.

But it still remains to be seen whether the visit to the North Korean territory will be possible, as the North has yet to grant them permission.

A government official said the South is contacting the North to make the visit to the factory park possible.

"We are keeping in touch with the North, but as of now, nothing can be predicted over whether the plan will be realized," the official said. He said Washington also understood the need for their visit to Gaeseong, as the issue has little to do with any concerns over the possible breach of sanctions on the North.

Inter-Korean relations

The official went on to explain that it is time for the South to "patiently wait" for the proper timing instead of trying to speed up inter-Korean dialogue, as the North is showing little sign of resuming talks with the South.

"We believe now is the time for us to have patience and focus on internal management," the official said. "When the time comes to speed up inter-Korean talks, we will offer various types of dialogue to the North and discuss possible agendas."

The official added Seoul and Washington would continue their close cooperation to resume dialogue with Pyongyang.

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