Former Minister of Unification and current presidential unification advisor Hyun In Taek has described the idea that the Lee Myung Bak government is responsible for the current state of inter-Korean relations as “extremely difficult to accept.”
Hyun, who was speaking at an international conference organized by the Sejong Institute in Seoul this morning, explained, “Critics of the Lee Myung Bak government’s North Korea policy say that demands for denuclearization and reform and opening are demands that North Korea is absolutely unable to accept. However, in the absence of denuclearization and reform and opening North Korea’s future is uncertain, so without these demands what meaning would North Korea policy have?”
He went on to caution against believing that North Korea can improve its situation without root and branch systemic alterations, saying, “Without fundamental change, things like economic measures cannot succeed. They need Chinese, Vietnamese or Burmese-style drastic reform and opening measures.”
