Ministry of Unification

The Ministry of Unification (통일부/統一部) is a government department which administer policy-making on unification and inter-Korea dialogue, exchange and cooperation, education on unification, and other affairs on unification. Article 26 of the Government Organization Act (정부조직법).

At first, the government organization in charge of unification was established as the Board of Unification (국토통일원) in 1969 to concentrate the unification efforts of the nation and to promote the Inter-Korean dialogue. In 1990, the Board was upgraded to the government department of Deputy Prime Minister, who shall consolidate and coordinate the policies and administration in relation to the Inter-Korean relations and unification. In 1998, the Board was reorganized to the Ministry of Unification. In the course of transition to the newly elected President Lee Myung-bak, the Ministry was on the brink of shut-down but saved thanks to the opposition party.

Key words
government organization, unification, unification cost, inter-Korean relations, NLL

Political Swing
Even though all the Korean people aspire to see the unification of the Peninsula in principle, but the policy measures in detail have shown a full swing from the left to the right owing to the power shift in the government and society.

In the Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo-hyun administration, the Sunshine Policy was the utmost policy goals, but in the Lee Myung-bak government the policy was discarded in the aftermath of the sinking of South Korean navy ship Cheonan and North Korean army's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.

NLL and other issues
As the North Korean policy direction and the Northern Limit Line (NLL) controversies have become the focus of the presidential election in December 2012, the ministry cannot be free from politics.

Those who served as unification ministers during the Roh Moo-hyun administration joined the campaign camps one after another. As they declared their intention to bring back the “Sunshine Policy,” ministry officials are nervous about how it will affect them.

During the election campaign, the existence of a transcript of a secret meeting between late President Roh Moo-hyun and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in the Iter-Korean Summit in October 2007 became a hot potato. There is an unidentified allegation that Roh disavowed the NLL, the disputed maritime boundary between North and South Korea. Another source said that Roh also offered 100 trillion won ($90 billion) of food aid to the North, approved of Pyongyang’s nuclear arms programs and promised to move all U.S. troops out of the capital region.

These allegations rocked the presidential race because the Democratic United Party’s candidate, Moon Jae-in, Roh’s chief of staff at the time, was the South’s chief organizer for the summit. Moon has said no transcripts exist.

White Papers on Unification
The government policy and achievements on unification are disclosed on the Internet.

The Ministry of Unification has been publishing White Papers annually since 1996. White Papers 2001, 2005 and 2010 are available in English.

Unification cost
In view of the precedent of Germany, the unification of the Korean Peninsula is expected to cost in an astronomical amount of money. The size varies from forecasting institute to institute.

See the Unification cost.

The Ministry has encouraged every citizen to participate in the unification fund raising campaign - donate to the Uni Jar (통일항아리).