Wi Sung-lac, director of the Office of National Security, said on the 7th, "We will push to resume dialogue with North Korea to put the Korean Peninsula coexistence process into full swing."
The security chief said this at the "six-month performance briefing by the three directors and senior secretaries of the presidential office" held at the Yongsan presidential office on the afternoon of the 7th, saying, "As a pacemaker, we will communicate closely with the United States and actively pursue inter-Korean communication," and stated accordingly.
However, the security chief explained that to resume inter-Korean dialogue, the government would not consider suspending or scaling back the South Korea-U.S. combined exercises. The position is to leverage the relationships built with the United States, Japan, and China since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration.
In response to a question asking whether there is an opening for inter-Korean communication, the security chief said, "There have been many achievements in external conditions, but not many in terms of inter-Korean relations," and added, "There are many cards to consider for inter-Korean dialogue, but we are not directly considering the South Korea-U.S. combined exercises as a card."
He continued, "What we have done so far has produced results in creating certain underlying conditions to push the Korean Peninsula peace process," emphasizing, "We stabilized South Korea-U.S. relations, put South Korea-Japan relations on a standard track, and set South Korea-China relations on a path to recovery. We will use that to try inter-Korean dialogue."