South Korea to hold meeting of diplomatic missions next week
South Korea will open an annual meeting of its top envoys abroad next week with a focus on strengthening its diplomacy amid geopolitical challenges, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
South Korea's Foreign Minister nominee Kang Kyung-hwa on Thursday said the humanitarian aid to North Korea should be provided without political considerations.
Kang, a veteran diplomat at the UN, said the aid to Pyongyang should be provided separately from political considerations as it is a matter of the universal value of humanity that should be done towards people who are suffering from pain.
Over the weekend, President Moon Jae-in appointed Kang as the country's first female Foreign Minister. The post does not require a parliamentary approval, but she will be subject to the National Assembly hearing, XInhua news agency reported.
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Asked about North Korea's recent missile launch provocations, Kang said that if provocations were conducted further, more powerful sanctions would be required.
Her comments were in line with the new government's policy stance. Moon indicated a firm response to provocations while seeking dialogue for the denuclearised Korean peninsula.
Moon was widely forecast to inherit a so-called sunshine policy of engagement with North Korea through economic cooperation.
Seoul's unification ministry was reviewing the resumption of civilian exchanges with Pyongyang, which had been suspended under the previous government following North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January 2016.
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