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Moon Jae-in's suspicious security standards

Posted October. 17, 2016 07:43,   

Updated October. 17, 2016 07:45

한국어

On the issue of former foreign minister Song Min-soon's memoir, former leader of the Minjoo Party Moon Jae-in wrote on his Facebook wall on Friday, "The Roh Moo-hyun administration was a sound government, as all issues were decided through discussions. Learn from the Roh administration." His key message was that the Roh administration decided to "abstain" the critical issue on the UN's North Korea human rights resolution by asking the perpetrator North Korea. However, his argument is in fact absurd, as he missed the point of commenting the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae's decision-making system out of nowhere.

Everyone knows many aids and ministers during the Roh administration were pro-North Korea figures. Kim Man-bok, former chief of the National Intelligence Service, bowed cordially in front of Kim Jong Il during the 2007 summit, and wrote in a Japanese magazine that the North fired artillery shells to Yeonpyeong Island due to continuous fire drills from the South. Then Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong even said that claiming Kim Il Sung's invasion of the South was inappropriate, adding that there was no clear evidence on human rights infringement issues in the North. What good are numerous rounds of discussions when aides show such distorted views on security and North Korea?

It was known that former President Roh Moo-hyun regrettably said, "We should have voted for (the resolution) without asking the North." This calls for heavy responsibilities to be taken by then presidential chief of staff Moon Jae-in and other aides for misleading their president. Song Min-soon's memoir also argued that the Roh Moo-hyun administration had included the controversial text "the Korean War was terminated by agreement among three or four party leaders" at the North's request on the October 4 Joint Declaration announced after the Inter-Korean Summit in 2007.

Moon said on his Facebook page that he would "value bad peace over war." Nonetheless, no weak nation earned peace for free in the history of mankind. Despite 10 years of the sunshine policy from the Kim Dae-jung administration to the Roh Moo-hyun administration, North Korea had explicitly revealed its communization ambitions and focused on nuclear missile development rather than taking off its heavy coat. After completing its fifth nuclear test, the North launched its Musudan Missile and suggested preemptive strikes on Friday even when the international society denounced and taken strong sanctions. The North is allegedly preparing its sixth and seventh nuclear tests. Nevertheless, Moon and the Minjoo Party opposed to passing the North Korean Human Rights Act for 11 years, and concentrated on criticizing the incumbent government under the banner of "Inter-Korean dialogues" instead of deploring North Korean nuclear missile developments.

Moon and others surrounding the Minjoo Party are not the only ones who show suspicious security standards. Ideological disputes over criticisms on possible presidential candidate Moon's security perspectives are also absurd. What Koreans really want to know is Moon's stance on North Korea policies not only in 2007, but also as of the present. If Moon and the his party truly wish to come to power, their specific solutions on both improving North Korean human rights issues and response to nuclear threats must be put on trial at the public court.



허문명논설위원 angelhuh@donga.com