SEOUL, Oct. 25 (BNA) The South Korean President said Monday that he will continue his pursuit of peace with North Korea through dialogue until the end of his term next May, after Pyongyang provoked hostilities by resuming provocative weapons tests.
While releasing a raft of newly developed weapons in recent weeks, North Korea has also criticized Washington and Seoul over what it described as hostility toward the North. Its actions indicate that North Korea wants its rivals to ease economic sanctions imposed on it and accept it as a legitimate nuclear state, experts say, Associated Press reports.
In his recent policy speech in Parliament, President Moon Jae-in said he would “make efforts to the end to help establish a new order of peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy.”
Moon, a champion of a greater reconciliation with North Korea, has been shuttling between Pyongyang and Washington to help facilitate the now stalled nuclear diplomacy between the two countries. Pyongyang turned a cold shoulder on the moon after its diplomacy with Washington collapsed in early 2019 amid wrangling over sanctions.
Moon praised himself for paving the way for a peace process on the Korean peninsula by holding three summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and helping arrange the first-ever North Korea-US summit between Kim and then-President Donald Trump in 2018.
But Moon acknowledged that his push for peace through dialogue remains “incomplete”.
Moon’s single five-year term ends next May, and he has been barred by law from seeking re-election. The presidential candidate of Moon’s ruling Liberal Party has revealed a policy similar to Moon’s toward North Korea. Opinion polls suggest a choppy race with a potential conservative candidate, likely to take a more hawkish stance in the North.
Moon’s appeasement policy on North Korea has been divisive, with his supporters calling him a peace-making broker while his opponents accused him of helping North Korea find ways to weaken international pressure and improve its weapons systems.
North Korean weapons systems that have been tested recently are mostly short and medium range weapons that put South Korea and Japan within their striking range. Last Tuesday, North Korea launched a ballistic missile from a submarine in its most important weapons test since President Joe Biden took office in January.
Some experts say that North Korea may test a long-range missile that could pose a direct threat to the American homeland to increase its pressure on Washington in the coming weeks.
As part of his efforts to ease tensions, Moon has recently been pushing for a symbolic declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. When Moon meets Pope Francis at the Vatican this week during his European tour, they will discuss a possible trip to North Korea by Francis as the Pope has repeatedly expressed his hope to visit North Korea, according to Moon’s office.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Monday that the government will make efforts to help realize Francis’ trip to North Korea if progress is made in related talks. Spokeswoman Lee Jong Joo said the Pope’s visit to North Korea will greatly contribute to peace on the Korean Peninsula.
RAE