New minister must modify inter-Korean policy

Cautious anticipation

President Lee Myung-bak's undue reliance on a handful of confidants and personal connections even caught Washington's attention once, WikiLeaks showed recently. Yet Lee's naming of his first chief of staff to new unification minister Tuesday could prove to be a silver lining to his incestuous style of personnel management.
That is, if only Yu Woo-ik, the 61-year-old former geology professor, can modify the keynote of the Lee administration's inflexible, hard-line policy toward North Korea.
For now, that may be a very big "if." Above all, Lee is still surrounded by hard-liners in Cheong Wa Dae. He has even added one more by appointing the outgoing unification minister, Hyun In-taek, the hawk of hawks, as his inter-Korean affairs advisor.
Yu, known as relatively more flexible toward Pyongyang, also has reportedly become adamant since the North's military provocations in the West Sea last year. Considering the communist regime is not even admitting its involvement in the sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan, the change of South Korean's top policymaker could mean little more than a political gesture on the part of Seoul.
Critics may be right that the president is just pretending to make changes by replacing Hyun, the main target of opposition parties and Pyongyang.
It is Hyun's replacement itself that provides basis for optimism, however.
The inter-Korean relationship can hardly grow any worse than it is now, and a gesture is better than nothing. In addition, the move came amid multinational contacts to resume the six-party talks as well as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's visit to China and Russia. That Pyongyang has recently refrained from criticizing President Lee by citing his name is noteworthy. A ruling party leader also hinted at "good news" in inter-Korean affairs in November, referring to potential three-nation talks on building a natural gas pipeline from Russia to South Korea via the North.
Most of all, the governing camp can ill afford to keep the inter-Korean relationship mired in the doldrums with two major elections approaching fast.
A Cheong Wa Dae spokesman, while announcing Yoo's appointment, expressed President Lee's intention to "seek development in inter-Korean policy while maintaining consistency, or principle." What matters is on which of the two -- development or principle -- the chief executive is placing his emphasis.
And herein lies the meaning of Yu as new top policymaker, who insiders say is one of the few officials who can read the president's mind and even persuade his boss to change it if necessary.
The current situations, both at home and abroad, are unlikely to easily allow a breakthrough in either the multilateral denuclearization talks or bilateral political process between the two Koreas. Humanitarian aid and other economic projects may be the only area the new unification minister can have some wriggle room. He must start from there and show progress.
With 70 percent of Lee's tenure already over, it may not be easy to reverse his policies in any major areas, including inter-Korean affairs.
But the unification ministry under Minister Hyun was even more hawkish than the foreign or defense ministries. If Yu can restore the ministry's original duty of facilitating inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation, he will have performed his role 100 percent.
That one can hardly expect more now is a sad but undeniable reality.