Unification minister to visit US at critical time

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon answers a lawmaker's question at a meeting to discuss the ministry's budget plan for next year, at the National Assembly, Thursday. / Yonhap

By Kim Bo-eun

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will visit the U.S. next week, to discuss inter-Korean affairs with key government officials and members of the Congress there.

Cho will visit New York and Washington, D.C., Nov. 13 to 17, according to the ministry, Friday.

The minister will attend the Korea Global Forum on Nov. 15 to deliver a keynote speech there.

"In addition, the plan is to meet with government officials and members of Congress to discuss inter-Korean relations and means to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula," the ministry said in a statement.

Morever, Cho will visit The Korea Society, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and speak with experts there.

"The minister will also meet with Korean-Americans there to share with them the government's policy toward North Korea and enhance their understanding and cooperation toward the issue of inter-Korean relations and unification," the ministry said.

"We hope that through the unification minister's visit to the U.S., cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. will be further strengthened on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the settlement of lasting peace and improving inter-Korean relations, and that there will be an expansion in understanding and support among Korean-Americans there."

The visit will take place at a time when progress is slow on denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S. A high-level meeting between the states that was scheduled to take place this week was postponed a day after the U.S. State Department confirmed it would take place.

Meanwhile, inter-Korean projects including inspections of railway sections in the North have been put on hold. The Koreas agreed earlier to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the project to connect railways between the South and North by late October or early December.

The minister will likely attempt to seek to convince U.S. officials of the need to advance inter-Korean relations and affairs during his visit.

The unification ministry said an inter-Korean meeting of a team inspecting roads will take place on Monday, to discuss inspections of the road along the east coast. This is part of a project to connect roads of the South and North.