One of the virtues of a good public official is being tight-lipped. In fact, the often sensitive nature of their work requires them to be circumspect with their words and their actions.
Hence, it came as a surprise when Chung Chong-wook, vice chairman of the presidential unification preparation committee, told a forum Tuesday that there was a team within the committee that is preparing for unification by absorption. Unification by absorption refers to non-consensual unification. North Korea is highly sensitive about the issue, repeatedly blasting the South for pursuing unification by absorption despite Seoul’s official position of pursuing peaceful unification.
The comment set off an outcry, and the Blue House and the unification preparation committee immediately denied the existence of such a team. On Thursday, Chung apologized for the comment and said that Seoul sought peaceful unification by consensus.
The 50-member unification preparation committee was launched last July and includes the unification minister, foreign affairs minister, five other ministers and heads of think tanks and private sector experts. President Park Geun-hye is the committee chairman.
From the onset, there have been questions about the committee’s raison d’etre. Why launch an apparently extraneous body when there is the Unification Ministry charged with matters pertaining to unification of the peninsula?
Whether Chung was cognizant of the possible repercussions of his remarks or not ― and it is a graver problem if he was not ― his remarks on the existence of a team dedicated to preparation for unification by absorption could have chilling effect on inter-Korean relations.
Pyongyang is highly sensitive about any possibility of unification by absorption and could use Chung’s comments to accuse Seoul of harboring intent to pursue forceful unification. Pyongyang, which was critical of the unification preparation committee’s launch ― it charged that the committee was tasked with preparing for unification by absorption ―has now been given new ammunition with which to attack Seoul.
It is not inconceivable that the unification preparation committee was preparing for the possibility of unification by absorption as well as peaceful unification ― preparation entails preparing for all eventualities. However, it is one thing to make preparations and quite another to declare that preparations are underway when North Korea, ostensibly the “partner” in unification, is vehemently opposed to it.
Chung’s garrulousness risked provoking Pyongyang at a time when inter-Korean relations are at a stalemate. If he cannot exercise judiciousness in making his remarks, Chung cannot be relied on to make wise decisions as the vice chairman of the unification preparation committee.
