통일부 장관, "남북관계 악화의 모든 책임 지고 물러난다"

As inter-Korean relations continue to sour and with continued aggressive statements from North Korea, Seoul's Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul has offered to resign.
For more on this, let's go over to our Unification Ministry correspondent Hong Yoo who is at Government Complex in Seoul.
So Hong Yoo, why the sudden resignation?
Connyoung, Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul at 3pm today announced that he has offered to resign.
Speaking to reporters at the ministry, he said that he will take responsibility for the deteriorating inter-Korean relationship.
When quizzed by reporters about when he began to consider resigning,…he said that
there came a point when it was clear that the current situation was heading in a certain direction and he thought someone should take responsibility.
His resignation comes 14 months after his inauguration in April 2019.
Speaking of North Korea raising tensions,…what is the Unification Ministry's reaction to the statement made this morning by the General Staff of the North's Korean People's Army?
Unification Vice Minister, Suh Ho, was scheduled to visit the border area this Thursday as part of the government's efforts to stop anti-Pyeongyang leaflet-dropping.
But that was cancelled this afternoon because, according to a ministry source, the two Koreas are facing a "change" in their relationship which must be evaluated.
In response to the demolition of the inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office, the source said the government will soon come up with the right response to protect its national property rights.
In a special address this morning, the Vice Minister said North Korea's recent statement has set the inter-Korean relationship back to how it was before their first-ever summit.
The vice-minister added that North Korea will be responsible for the deteriorating relationship and urged Pyeongyang not to take measures that could worsen the situation
Let's take a listen:
"Our government expresses deep regret over the North's statement, noting that it will deploy military units to the Mount Geumgang tourism zone and Gaeseong Industrial Complex. The North should take due responsibility for its actions. We urge the North to stop further exacerbating the situation."
He said the two Koreas had agreed through the September 2018 'Pyeongyang Joint Declaration' to first normalize the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and the Mount Geumgang Tourism Project as conditions improve.
He added, Seoul has worked at ways to improve inter-Korean cooperation such as the possibility of individual tours to the North and business visits to Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
That's all I have at this hour, back to you Connyoung.