Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said on the 29th (local time), "North Korea has become one of the three countries capable of striking the U.S. mainland," and added, "We need to coolly acknowledge what must be acknowledged."
Minister Chung, who is visiting Germany, said at a press briefing held in Berlin that day, "North Korea calls itself a strategic state, and its strategic position has changed. It is different from seven years ago, when the Singapore U.S.-North Korea summit was held. We should start from that reality," adding that even at the second U.S.-North Korea summit held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019, "North Korea was in a position of clinging to the United States."
He also referred to a remark by Choe Son-hui, then North Korean vice foreign minister, made right after the talks collapsed, that "I think the United States missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," and said, "Unfortunately, that turned out to be right. If a small deal had been reached, the course of the nuclear issue would have been very different."
On the possibility of a future U.S.-North Korea summit, he said, "Nearly half of the messages on the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party were aimed at the United States and the South," adding, "Judging from that, leaders on both sides of the United States and North Korea have now said they want to meet each other."
However, Minister Chung said, "If security is exchanged for security through U.S.-North Korea relations, the United States has no intention at all of providing support or paying money," and argued, "If Chairperson Kim Jong-un's comment about wanting to follow the path of Vietnam, which pursued reform and opening, is sincere, there is no path other than inter-Korean cooperation."
Regarding criticism that the "peaceful two-state theory" recently advocated by Chung conflicts with the Constitution, he said, "Recognition of a de facto state and a de jure state, that's empty rhetoric," adding, "That's how exchanges and cooperation should be resumed."
He continued, "It was framed that way in contrast because the North said 'two hostile states, two states at war,'" adding, "As soon as former President Yoon Suk-yeol became a candidate, he put forward a five-character slogan, 'North Korea is the main enemy.' It started from there. Before that, North Korea said, 'The main enemy is not the United States, but war itself.'"
Minister Chung is visiting Germany and Belgium from the 28th to the 4th of next month on a five-night, seven-day schedule to attend the 2025 Global Korea Forum (GKF) and events marking German Unity Day.