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President Yoon Seok-yeol made a trip to three countries including the UK, the US and Canada.
He will attend the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II of England and the United Nations General Assembly.
An interview with a foreign press before departure was released, and he criticized the Moon Jae-in administration’s policy toward North Korea head-on, saying it was obsessed with North Korea.
The ruling and opposition parties clashed accusing each other of the former and current governments.
Reporter Shin Soo-ah reports.
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In an interview with the New York Times, President Yoon Seok-yeol criticized the Moon Jae-in administration’s North Korea policy, saying, “In the classroom, I looked like a student obsessed with only one of my friends, North Korea.”
He added, “I am prepared to prepare all means, including a nuclear umbrella, together with the United States to deter North Korean provocations.”
The US-China diplomacy was also too vague, and the Yun Seok-yeol administration emphasized that it would take a predictable and clear position.
Regarding relations with Japan, I brought up the grand bargain, the so-called grand compromise, that I mentioned when I declared my candidacy for president again.
[윤석열/대통령 (지난해 6월 29일)]
“The comfort women issue, the forced labor issue, things like this, and security cooperation between Korea and Japan… Put it on one table and do some kind of grand bargain…”
However, it is unclear whether the formal summit between Korea and Japan at the UN General Assembly will be held in the format predicted.
The presidential office said, “I haven’t heard of any changes,” and said that the detailed schedule was being adjusted, but Japanese media said that Japan was cautious about the talks in a situation where there was no progress on the issue of forced labor workers.
The Democratic Party protested against President Yoon’s interview not to undercut the previous government’s efforts to hide his diplomatic incompetence.
Park Seong-joon / Spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea
It is pathetic that the Lee Myung-bak administration is only repeating the failed policy of denuclearization and openness. The only thing the public can see is blind follow-up diplomacy and submissive attitude toward Japan.
At the same time, former President Moon Jae-in delivered a message to commemorate the 4th anniversary of the 9/19 inter-Korean military agreement, saying, “The inter-Korean agreement is a promise that must be respected and fulfilled even if the regime changes.”
In response, the People’s Power criticizes the Moon administration for only performing a disguised peace show, and former President Moon urges him to stop inappropriate political intervention.
This is Shin Soo-ah from MBC News.
Video coverage: Koo Bon-won/Video editing: Yang Hong-seok
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