SEOUL– Unification Minister Kwon Young-se on Friday asked for the Buddhist circle’s support in helping improve strained inter-Korean ties and revive exchanges with North Korea, his office said.
Kwon made the remarks during a meeting with Ven. Jinwoo, the president of the Jogye Order, the country’s biggest Buddhist sect, at a memorial hall on Korean Buddhism history and culture in Seoul.
“While the government will sternly deal with the North’s provocations, it also has a stance that the revival of humanitarian inter-Korean exchanges will help resolve the North’s nuclear issue,” Kwon said.
The minister said the unification ministry is ready to proactively seek exchanges and cooperation with the North in nonpolitical sectors, such as culture, religion and the environment.
“The move is not aimed at shaking up the North Korean regime but restoring national homogeneity between the two Koreas,” Kwon said, asking for the Buddhist community’s role in improving inter-Korean ties. Ven. Jinwoo assumed the post in September last year for a four-year term.
Source: Yonhap News Agency