Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik on Friday called for fresh measures to steer the unification between two Koreas despite strained cross-border ties following a failed rocket launch.

He stressed that the South should shift its focus on bilateral exchanges, cooperation and talks to policies that can be pursued constantly and independently irrespective of swings in inter-Korean relations.

“Under the current policies, we have to keep treading water if North Korea does not respond,” Yu told journalists at a meeting in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province.

“While the North creates tensions, gets rewards and again heightens tensions with its priority on nuclear programs, the South needs to draw up practical measures to follow consistently and separately.”

As part of the efforts, the government should boost and consolidate public awareness toward unification and rev up assistance for defectors for their settlement here, Yu said. 

He also highlighted the need for the South to drum up support from and convince surrounding nations and its allies such as the U.S. and China that a unified Korea “would contribute to promoting the region’s peace and prosperity and realizing mankind’s universal values.

Citizen’s voluntary participation in the so-called “unification account” is crucial for Seoul to bankroll unification, the minister said, adding that securing finances is the “most concrete and practical” way of preparations.

“Through the account, we can show our concerted efforts to other countries and build passion and confidence ourselves about unification,” Yu said, citing South Korea’s gold collection drive in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Yet Yu’s three-point strategy is short of details and stronger government resolve, critics say. Opposition parties have been criticizing the Lee Myung-bak administration’s hard-line North Korea policy and lack of attention to unification.

His remarks also denote a widening discrepancy between Lee and one of his closest aids in policy views over reunification.

With his “flexible” stance toward Pyongyang, Yu is deemed a pragmatist or potential accommodationist unlike his predecessor. Lee, by contrast, sticks to his “principles” that premise the North’s apologies for its hostile acts and denuclearization efforts before reconciliation.

Yu, a former geography professor and ambassador to Beijing, took the helm in September, replacing Hyun In-taek.

The “unification account” came late last year as an ill-conceived retreat from Lee’s earlier proposal to levy a new unification tax. It is designed to raise funds through the government’s seed money and then public contributions.

On Saturday, Yu made the first “unification jar” with a renowned potter in Mungyeong to encourage donations.

But his campaign faces an uncertain future as a related bill was scrapped last year after a tugging partisan match.

The ministry, which plans to reintroduce the bill this upcoming session, aims to accumulate around 50 trillion won ($43.6 billion) by 2030 under the South-North Cooperation Fund.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)