Think tank under control of Unification

The government plans to transfer jurisdiction of a think tank to the Unification Ministry for closer policy coordination after its controversial report provoked Pyongyang.

The Korea Institute for National Unification, currently under the Prime Minister`s Office, issued a report last month on how Seoul should respond to possible contingencies in North Korea. The report, which said North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was unlikely to be around after 2012 due to bad health, was seen as incoherent with the tone of inter-Korean dialogue this year.

The North reacted to the report with anger, calling it a "declaration of war."

In 2008, KINU president Suh Jae-jean publicly said Kim`s days were numbered and that "there was no use talking with the North because its regime is senseless and unjust."

The Unification Ministry said yesterday it put a bill to transfer the jurisdiction of KINU on public notice. Under the new law, the Unification Minister will be authorized to approve KINU`s project plans and budget, plus appoint its chief and directors.

Established in 1991, KINU served as a think tank for the Unification Ministry until it went under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister`s Office in 1999.

(sophie@heraldm.com)







By Kim So-hyun