Seoul kicks off process to draw up new vision for inter

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks at the Unification Future Planning Committee meeting in Seoul, March 15, in this photo provided by the Ministry of Unification. Yonhap

The unification ministry said Friday it has started discussions to draw up a new vision for unification between South and North Korea as it pushes to unveil the blueprint this year that espouses the principle of freedom.

The Unification Future Planning Committee, an advisory committee launched last year designed to provide policy suggestions on unification, held its first meeting of the year earlier in the day, according to the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs.

"I hope the committee will play a pivotal role in collecting various opinions and fleshing out details of the new unification vision," Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said at the start of the meeting.

In a 2024 policy briefing to President Yoon Suk Yeol, the ministry said there is a need to take into account changes in the security situation and muster global support for Seoul's unification policy in drawing up a new unification vision.

The government plans to revise the National Community Unification Formula, South Korea's unification vision unveiled in August 1994 under the administration of late President Kim Young-sam.

The move comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has defined inter-Korean ties as relations between "two states hostile to each other," and vowed not to seek unification and reconciliation with South Korea.

In a speech marking the 105th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, Yoon said unification is precisely "what is needed to expand the universal values of freedom and human rights." (Yonhap)