REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File PhotoSEOUL, June 29 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday picked a conservative scholar and an outspoken critic of North Korea's human rights record as the country's new unification minister handling relations with Pyongyang in a cabinet reshuffle.
Kim, 63, served as a presidential secretary for unification and a human rights envoy under the conservative Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations.
North Korea has long rejected criticism of its rights conditions as part of a plot to overthrow its rulers.
Kim is the right person to pursue a "principle-based" and consistent North Korea policy, said Yoon's chief of staff, Kim Dae-ki.
The unification ministry's role ranges from cross-border dialogue and exchanges to studying human rights abuses in North Korea and helping defectors resettle in the South.
Persons:
Kim Hong, Yoon Suk, Kim Yung, Yoon, Kim, Lee Myung, Kim Jong, Kim Dae, Jang Mi, Soo, hyang Choi, Hyunsu Yim, Jack Kim, Ed Davies, Gerry Doyle
Organizations:
South, REUTERS, Sungshin Women's University, North, Thomson
Locations:
Korean, South Korean, Paju, South Korea, SEOUL, Pyongyang, North Korea, North Korean, Korea, United States