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Chung Dong-young, nominee for unification minister, answers lawmakers’ questions during a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on July 14. / Source: Yonhap News

Unification Minister nominee Chung Dong-young emphasized the need to rebuild a peace and coexistence framework on the Korean Peninsula as he began his confirmation hearing on July 14.

Speaking before the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Chung stated, “We must shift the current tide from hostile confrontation to reconciliation and cooperation, expanding peace instead of pushing for unification through force.”

He acknowledged the growing anxiety surrounding the Korean Peninsula due to the unstable global landscape, saying, “It’s true that concerns outweigh hope. But looking back, despite the turbulence of global politics and great power rivalries, we have continued to write the history of peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

Quoting the expression, “The past guides the present and the dead save the living,” Chung argued that South Korea must revisit and implement past inter-Korean agreements, starting again from the “first step of reconciliation and cooperation” that has long been stalled.

He cited key milestones including the 1991 Basic Agreement between the two Koreas, the June 15 Joint Declaration of 2000, and the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration of 2018.

Chung also stressed that “inter-Korean relations must never threaten the daily lives of our people,” and urged continued progress toward “practical unification” through small, steady steps toward peaceful coexistence. “That is the path to prosperity for our people and the Korean Peninsula,” he said.