North Korea tension sidelines South’s Unification Ministry

FILE – In this June 17, 2005 file photo provided by South Korea Unification Ministry, then South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, left, poses with then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea. As North Korea steps up its nuclear weapons tests and threats, South Korea’s Unification Ministry faces an almost existential crisis. It wasn’t too long ago that the ministry was one of Seoul’s most powerful government departments. But the political sway is mostly gone after a decade that saw relations between the Koreas go from bad to worse. (South Korea Unification Ministry via AP, File)