North Korea tensions sideline South's once powerful Unification Ministry

Every day, South Korea’s Unification Ministry sends officials to the border village of Panmunjom to call North Korea at 9am and 4pm. For more than 18 months, the North hasn’t picked up.
As North Korea steps up its nuclear weapons tests and threats, the Unification Ministry, dedicated to improving relations with the North and eventual peaceful reunification, faces an almost existential crisis.
Not too long ago the ministry was one of Seoul’s most powerful departments. It had…