Recently mandarins of the "Ministry of Unification" sponsored the 2nd "co-existence, co-prosperity forum" under the pretext of achieving "understanding" among people. At the forum they justified Lee Myung Bak's "policy towards the north" and made such provocative remarks as "those abducted by the north" and "POWs of the south Korean army" as part of the smear campaign against the DPRK.

This anti-DPRK smear campaign is, in a nutshell, intended to stamp out the people's desire for national reunification through alliance with the north and stoke among them the consciousness of confrontation with the fellow countrymen, the commentary points out, and says:

The anti-reunification nature of the "ministry" was also proven by a document it sent, through the "Institute for Unification Education" under it, to the "Council of Unification Education," a non-governmental organization.

In the document the "ministry" urged the council to adjust organizations affiliated to it and drastically reduce the size of its board of directors and joint presidium and reform its jury and secretariat. This means calling for replacement of progressive and reformist organizations with ultra-right conservative ones as well as involvement in the council of coteries serving the "ministry."

Not content with such demand, it forced the council to conduct its activities with permission from the "Institute for Unification Education" whose head is So Jae Jin, an ill-famed anti-DPRK confrontational maniac.

In fact the "ministry" can be said to be a ministry for confrontation as it seeks to escalate the moves for confrontation with fellow countrymen after putting even the said non-governmental organization under its control.

If Hyon In Thaek, one of the notorious anti-DPRK confrontational fanatics, is allowed to hold the top post of the "ministry," it will be turned into a ministry inciting confrontation without doubt.

It is no doubt that the north-south relations will go to total collapse and the situation grow more acute in such case.

By turning the "Ministry of Unification" into a ministry for confrontation, Lee Myung Bak is treading in the shameful track of Kim Young Sam who had never had a chance for north-south dialogue during his tenure. Clear is what a miserable fate traitor Lee will meet.