Opposition parties ramp up offensive against Moon's N. Korea policy

South Korea's opposition parties on Tuesday ramped up their offensive against President Moon Jae-in's pursuit of dialogue and rapprochement with North Korea, as its recent long-range missile test has brought security to the center of political debate.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party, in particular, called for a wholesale review of Moon's policy toward the provocative neighbor, stressing its Friday test of an intercontinental ballistic missile is reshaping the security landscape on the peninsula and beyond.

"The North's ICBM test is fundamentally changing the contours of security," Shim Jae-cheol, an LKP member and the National Assembly vice speaker, told Yonhap News Agency over the phone. "We have to thoroughly review our policy."

The North's second ICBM test that followed the first early last month has deepened skepticism over Moon's peace overtures and reinforced conservatives' claims that sanctions and pressure must be prioritized to have Pyongyang change tack toward denuclearization.

The LKP's rhetoric against Moon has further hardened as he embarked on a weeklong summer break Sunday despite escalating cross-border tensions. The absence of immediate phone talks between Moon and US President Donald Trump over the North's provocation has added ammunition for the LKP to attack him.

"The fact that the president went on a vacation at this dangerous juncture itself could undermine our country's credibility," said Kim Myung-yeon, a senior LKP lawmaker.

Park Joo-sun, the interim leader of the minor opposition People's Party, voiced concerns that the Moon government's offer for inter-Korean dialogue could go against the international trends toward sanctions on Pyongyang.

"At a time when the international community seeks to achieve the North's denuclearization through pressure and sanctions, the pursuit of dialogue with the North would be ineffective. ... We fear it could rather cause misjudgment on the part of the North," Park said in a radio interview.

Concerns about "Korea passing" have also emerged as Trump held phone talks first with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the North's latest missile test, with critics arguing that Seoul could be sidelined in security affairs involving the North.

Capitalizing on public security concerns, the LKP redoubled its calls for the full-on deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery, a US missile defense system whose installation in the South has been suspended pending an environmental impact assessment.

The ruling Democratic Party weighed in to defend the president, saying that the government would hold fast to its two-track approach of mixing dialogue and pressure, while it would sternly deal with the North's provocations.

"Even during wartime, dialogue continues," Kim Tae-nyeon, the DP policy chief, said. "While building a robust defense system based on the South Korea-US alliance and applying sanctions and pressure, dialogue should also run in parallel." (Yonhap)