Unification Minister Chung Dong-young (left) speaks during a briefing to President Lee Jae-myung on the ministry’s 2026 policy plan at the government complex in Seoul on Friday, as Foreign Minister Cho Hyun listens. (Yonhap)


South Korea’s Unification Ministry on Friday put sanctions relief for inter-Korean 오션파라다이스사이트 and multilateral cooperation projects on its agenda for 2026, drawing a reserved response from the Foreign Ministry.
In its 2026 annual policy plan, the Unification Ministry said it would se 릴게임방법 ek to "pierce a needle hole through the wall of severed inter-Korean ties" and "boldly push preemptive and practical steps" to make 2026 "the first year of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula 바다이야기프로그램 ."
As part of that push, the ministry said it "would pursue consultations and efforts to ease sanctions on North Korea to underpin inter-Korean and multilateral exchanges and cooperation."
릴게임무료 “From the perspective of the Unification Ministry, the first issue is the effectiveness of sanctions. If they are effective, then that policy has validity. But if they are not, it needs to be 릴게임바다신2 reviewed,” Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said during a standalone news conference following his briefing to President Lee Jae-myung on the ministry’s plan for next year.
“If we genuinely hope that a North Korea?US summit will take place, this part needs to be given serious consideration,” Chung said, arguing that sanctions should be reassessed for the resumption of dialogue because North Korea views them as the “most hostile policy.”

May 24 sanctions revisited

During a closed-door policy briefing involving the Unification and Foreign ministries that was not broadcast live, brief discussions were also held on whether the South Korean government should lift the May 24 measures, according to government sources.
The May 24 measures are unilateral sanctions imposed by the Lee Myung-bak administration in response to the 2010 sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan by a North Korean torpedo. The sanctions broadly banned inter-Korean exchanges, trade and travel to North Korea.
During the news conference, Chung suggested he was open to lifting the May 24 measures, saying "their effectiveness had largely eroded.”
Asked whether lifting the measures would require any formal steps ? and how the process would proceed ? Chung said, “It’s linked to changes in the situation (surrounding the Korean Peninsula). In the end, it’s a matter of timing. If an announcement is made, the Unification Ministry will make it.”
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun also said that during the closed-door session, President Lee “asked about the May 24 measures,” speaking at a separate news conference following his ministry’s 2026 policy briefing to Lee.
“I responded that it would be best to consider such matters together with the international situation, relations with key countries concerned, their positions, and, above all, our own strategy,” Cho said.
Cho also repeatedly described Chung’s road map for inter-Korean economic projects presented during the briefing as “idealistic.” Chung’s plans include swiftly restoring the Kaeseong industrial park; restarting Mount Kumgang tourism by linking it with North Korea’s Wonsan?Kalma coastal zone; connecting a Seoul-Beijing overland railway through North Korea; and establishing a new escrow-based financial intermediary system that would allow North Korea to participate in international trade under sanctions.
When asked by The Korea Herald about the Foreign Ministry’s stance on the Unification Ministry’s push for sanctions relief, Cho simply responded that "we are reviewing the Unification Ministry’s position.”
“First of all, we will need to consult with the Unification Ministry, and we will have to have officials from multiple ministries discuss the matter together at the National Security Office to formulate the government’s position,” Cho said.

Ministries to hold regular consultations

However, amid concerns over a feud between the Unification and Foreign ministries over North Korea policy and a lack of communication, the two ministers also said they had agreed to hold regular vice minister-level consultations.
“We've agreed that the Unification Ministry’s vice minister will regularly consult with the Foreign Ministry’s head of the Office of Strategy and Intelligence ? a vice minister?level official ? to share information and maintain close communication,” Chung told reporters.
Chung also said the Unification Ministry would establish a separate consultation channel with the US Embassy in Seoul on North Korea-related issues.
“For reference, we will also hold regular consultations at the assistant chief of mission-level between our policy chief and officials at the US Embassy, for the purpose of information sharing,” Chung said.
Chung repeatedly underscored what he described as both the imperative and the possibility ? “from the Unification Ministry’s standpoint” ? that a North Korea-US summit should take place around President Donald Trump’s planned trip to China in April next year.
“For that purpose, I raised the need today to appoint a special envoy for peace on the Korean Peninsula, while urging the US side to designate a special representative for North Korea.”