[앵커]
The first defense white paper of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration is expected to contain expressions defining North Korea as an enemy.
The concept of North Korea in the Defense White Paper, which has changed from ‘main enemy’ to ‘direct threat’ depending on the regime and time,
Correspondent Shin Joon-myeong summarized it.
[기자]
Published every two years, the Defense White Paper is a booklet in the form of a report issued by the Ministry of National Defense to inform the public of its defense policies.
In 1994, at the 8th inter-Korean working-level meeting, Park Young-soo, the North Korean representative, remarked on the ‘Seoul Sea of Fire’ as a trigger, and the expression ‘main enemy’ appeared in the defense white paper the following year and was maintained until 2000.
Since then, the concept of ‘main enemy’ has disappeared since 2004, during the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
Instead, relaxed terms such as direct military threat and serious threat were used.
However, in 2010, as North Korea’s provocations, such as the sinking of the Cheonan warship and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, inter-Korean relations reached their worst, it was stated that “the North Korean regime and the North Korean military are enemies.”
Since then, the Moon Jae-in administration has deleted the expression of hostility to reflect the changed inter-Korean relations, such as the third inter-Korean summit and the 9/19 military agreement.
Instead, it stated that we regard forces that threaten and infringe upon our sovereignty, land, people, and property as our enemies.
If the concept of an enemy in the past was only aimed at North Korea, a broader concept has emerged that all forces may or may not be enemies.
[신종우 / 한국국방안보포럼 사무국장 : (지난 정부는) 북한과의 협상 과정이 있다보니까 국방백서 차원에서 이제 표현을 많이 좀 순화를 했고 국방백서 자체가 어떤 정치적인 논쟁으로 지금 계속 바뀌고 있습니다.]
In the first defense white paper of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, which will be published early next year, the expression that defines North Korea as a specific pirate enemy will be revived.
[전하규 대령 / 국방부 공보담당관 직무대리 (지난 6일) : 북한의 핵·미사일을 포함한 군사적 도발과 위협이 지속되고 있기 때문에 내년 초에 발간할 2022년 국방백서에 북한 정권과 북한군에 대한 분명한 인식이 포함되도록 할 것입니다.]
The specific expression is under review, but it is said that the possibility of containing the highest level expression of the main enemy is low.
Some point out how to build trust and dialogue with North Korea, which is defined as an ‘enemy’ in government open publications.
The government drew the line that it does not deny inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation even if the expression defining North Korea as an enemy is included.
This is YTN Shin Joon-myung.
YTN Junmyeong Shin ([email protected])
※ ‘Your report becomes news’
[카카오톡] Search YTN and add a channel
[전화] 02-398-8585
[메일] [email protected]
[저작권자(c) YTN 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]