South Korea’s Renewed Civil Contacts with North Korea: A Risky Shift Under New Leadership

South Korea has abruptly reversed course on its stance toward North Korea, allowing civilian contacts that were frozen for years under a conservative government wary of Pyongyang's hostile actions. This policy shift, initiated by President Lee Jae-myung’s administration, signals a potentially hazardous thaw in inter-Korean relations amid ongoing provocations from the North. On June 19, Seoul’s Ministry of Unification approved two notifications for humanitarian contacts between South Korean civil organizations and residents of North Korea. This marks the first such approvals since a brief exception last August related to flooding in the North. A ministry official was quoted acknowledging the...