Seoul’s unification ministry announced a major organizational overhaul on Tuesday aimed at reviving its core mandate of promoting dialogue and exchange with North Korea, which it claimed was hollowed out under the former Yoon administration.

But the ministry’s decision to dissolve a dedicated office focusing on DPRK human rights and humanitarian issues drew sharp criticism from advocacy groups, which called the move inconsistent with the Lee Jae-myung government’s pledge to support improvements in the North’s human rights situation.

The plan released Tuesday reinstates the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue, which the Yoon administration mergedinto the Inter-Korean Relations Management Bureau. The