S. Korea says no signs of unification with N. Korea

Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said in a parliamentary session that "it is not easy to set a time frame" for potential unification with North Korea as there are so many variables.
Ryoo did not elaborate on what he meant by variables.
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se also said in the same session that it is too early to give a time frame on unification, though efforts are under way to create an international environment conducive to unification.
Their comments came days after South Korea's spy chief, Nam Jae-joon, allegedly told his senior officials that South Korean-led unification could happen in 2015.
A unification ministry official said the government ministries and the agency handling foreign affairs and national security have the same policy in regards to North Korea. He asked not to be identified, citing policy.
South and North Korea view unification as their holy grail, though the sides have been at odds over basic principles of unification.
The Koreas have been divided for six decades following the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
South Korea seeks a peaceful unification based on the principles of freedom and democracy while North Korea wants to communize Asia's fourth-largest economy.
South Korea said unification would provide the Korean people with a springboard to prosperity by marrying South Korea's capital and technology with North Korea's rich natural resources.
Still, the communist country has long suspected that Seoul could be plotting to absorb Pyongyang.
Yun, meanwhile, told lawmakers that he has instructed South Korea's overseas diplomatic missions to be vigilant to prepare for any possible asylum bids by North Koreans following the bloody purge of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's uncle.
The North executed Jang Song-thaek, who had long been considered the North's No. 2 man and Kim's regent, for treason on Dec. 12.