Yoon names engineering professor as new ICT minister
Korea HeraldJul 20
SKorea Appoints NKorea Defector as Vice Minister
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Above: A North Korean national flag (Top, R) in North Korea's propaganda village of Gijungdong is seen from South Korea's Taesungdong freedom village on April 24, 2018 in Paju, South Korea. Image copyright: Chung Sung-Jun/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
South Korea's Pres. Yoon Suk Yeol has appointed former North Korean diplomat Tae Yong-ho as the secretary-general of his Peaceful Unification Advisory Council.
Tae will replace former Secretary General Seok Dong-hyeon, who resigned in January to run in general elections, in overseeing the council's affairs under the leadership of the president.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
If there's someone who can help reunite the Korean Peninsula, it's Tae Yong-ho — and that's why his nomination as secretary-general is so important. As a North Korean himself, he understands and speaks about unification in concrete and compassionate terms and his progress in public life offers new alternatives for Northern elites.
Establishment-critical narrative
By appointing a North Korean diplomat-turned-defector to its presidential consultative body on unification, Seoul further shows that it's just not interested in reconciliation and reunification. As long as the South insists on colluding with foreign forces and traitors to try to topple the North's government, unification will continue to be impossible.
