Unification Minister Chung Dong-young delivers a keynote speech during the Korean Peninsula Symposium 2026, in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young called Friday for shifting away from an approach that sticks to denuclearization as the sole solution to the North Korean nuclear issue, saying such a precondition has been one of the reasons for stalled diplomacy with Pyongyang.
Chung made the remarks in a keynote speech at a forum, co-hosted by Yonhap News Agency, pointing out that the lack of progress in nuclear diplomacy has only helped the North bolster its nuclear and weapons capabilities for the past three decades.
"As the past 30 years have shown, whenever peace talks were halted by the denuclearization hurdle, North Korea used that time to further advance its nuclear capabilities," Chung said at the Korean Peninsula Symposium.
"We must move away from the old notion that a peace regime can only be discussed after the North Korean nuclear issue is resolved ... We need to pursue a phased and pragmatic solution. It is time for a paradigm shift," he said.
