[Newsmaker] People Power Party slams Moon's 'submissive' attitude towards NK

The main opposition party on Monday accused North Korea of violating its military agreement with South Korea by developing a new intercontinental ballistic missile and submarine-launched ballistic missiles which it unveiled in a military parade on Saturday.

“This is a clear violation of the military agreement. We can only see (the North’s threat) as increased, not diminished,” Kim Chong-in, interim leader of the People’s Power Party, said during an emergency meeting at the National Assembly.

“We are just astonished at (the North’s) crocodile tears, talking about fellow Koreans in the South after shooting one of us to death.”

The formal declaration to end the Korean War, which President Moon Jae-in continues to advocate, would be “an anti-constitutional act that brings an end to everything, not just the war,” Kim said, adding that South Korea cannot be free of the North’s threats unless it denuclearizes.

“It is difficult to understand why President Moon is so acquiescent to the North. He keeps begging for the declaration to end the war, without consultation with the US, and the North does not even respond.”

People Power Party floor leader Rep. Joo Ho-young also slammed the Moon administration for its submissive attitude toward Pyongyang.

“At a single remark from Kim Jong-un – ‘dear fellow Koreans in the South’ – the Moon administration goes out and says it expects to restart inter-Korean dialogue,” Joo said.

“There is a saying that someone who only believes the enemy commander’s words deserves to die. You can die alone if you want to believe the enemy commander, but you can’t go ahead and declare the end of the war against the people’s intent, when you’re responsible for the lives of 50 million people.”

Joo said that through the military parade, North Korea has made it clear to the world that it has no intent to give up its nuclear weapons and missiles, no matter what.

“And the Democratic Party claims that the North has reciprocated to our will for a peace process on the Korean Peninsula. Where is that coming from? I hope the DP, still wondering in its dreams, returns to reality and recovers its senses,” he said.

People Power Party policy committee chair Lee Jong-bae said the government and the ruling party, which “played up the North’s soulless apology (over killing a South Korean official in its waters), once again got excited at the North’s lip service, and spoke favorably about it.”

“The government turns a blind eye to the North’s ICBM and SLBMs which threaten the security of the Korean Peninsula, and only obsesses with the unsubstantial and meaningless lip service on recovering inter-Korean relations,” Lee said.

“The people are outraged at such exceptional subservience, which was unseen under any other past administrations. The government and the ruling party cheered at the North’s military parade, but they abolished our own military parade on Armed Forces Day.”

Lee mentioned that the South Korean military’s frontline surveillance and reconnaissance as well as naval and air force operations have weakened, and the Marines’ K9 self-propelled artillery training in the operation site around the five islands near the border in the West Sea has been stopped.

“This administration’s deep-rooted submissive view towards the North has led them to abolish our military parade which can boost our military morale, and cheer at North Korea’s military parade,” he said.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)