The Ministry of Unification is a branch of the South Korean government charged with working toward the reunification of Korea. It was first established in 1969 as the National Unification Board, under the rule of Park Chung-hee. It gained its current status in 1998 and has played a major role in promoting inter-Korean dialogues, and exchanges and cooperation.
As of December 2011, Yu Woo-ik serves as Unification Minister. The Ministry consists of one office for planning and coordination; three bureaus for unification policy, inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation, and humanitarian cooperation; one special bureau for the Gaeseong Industrial Complex project; and five affiliated agencies on unification education, inter-Korean dialogue, transit between the South and the North, settlement support for dislocated North Koreans and inter-Korean consultations on exchanges and cooperation.
In 2008, the ministry was significantly downsized as part of an efficiency restructuring of government.
As of October 2012, Yoon Sang-hyun is a member of the South Korean Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee, which receives reports about North Korea.
Famous quotes containing the words ministry of and/or ministry:
“The State has but one face for me: that of the police. To my eyes, all of the State’s ministries have this single face, and I cannot imagine the ministry of culture other than as the police of culture, with its prefect and commissioners.”
—Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985)
“The State has but one face for me: that of the police. To my eyes, all of the State’s ministries have this single face, and I cannot imagine the ministry of culture other than as the police of culture, with its prefect and commissioners.”
—Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985)