North Korea Calls Military Buildup "Hypocritical and Double-Faced" Amid Talks of Exchange Cooperation... President Moon's "Inter-Korean Cooperation" the Next Day

Repeated Criticism of Advanced Weapons Import Including Global Hawk
Government Accelerates Inter-Korean Cooperation with Panmunjom Tours

President Moon Jae-in is answering questions from the press after delivering a special national address on the third anniversary of his inauguration at the Chuncheon Hall of the Blue House on the morning of the 10th.

On the 11th, the day after President Moon Jae-in reiterated the importance of 'independent cooperation between the South and the North' in his special speech marking the third anniversary of his inauguration, North Korea criticized the South through its external propaganda media, calling it "the hypocritical behavior of the South Korean authorities, who talk about improving relations and cooperation on the surface but harbor malicious intentions to harm their own people behind their backs."

On the same day, the media outlet Uri Minjokkkiri claimed in an article titled "Deserved Condemnation" that "As everyone knows, the South Korean authorities have always been talking about 'dialogue,' 'improving relations,' and 'cooperation' between the North and South."

The media particularly took issue with the South Korean military's introduction of advanced equipment. Uri Minjokkkiri stated, "As has already been exposed, the South Korean authorities secretly brought in and deployed two high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft 'Global Hawk' in mid-April," adding, "Recently, they completed the operational deployment of the medium-range surface-to-air missile system 'Cheongung' and held the launching ceremony of the 2,800-ton new escort ship Donghae-ho."

It continued, "At the 126th Defense Acquisition Program Promotion Committee held on April 27, the South Korean military announced plans to invest about 900 million dollars to develop a Korean-style joint tactical data link system capable of sharing tactical information in real time among ground, sea, and air weapon systems by 2026, and to develop a Korean-style destroyer by 2030," emphasizing, "There is no doubt that this is a military buildup aimed at us."

However, the article did not directly mention President Moon's special speech from the previous day. Earlier, on the 10th, President Moon said in his special speech marking the third anniversary of his inauguration, "Now, instead of only looking at North Korea-US dialogue, let's find and carry out what can be done between the South and the North."

President Moon's repeated emphasis on independent inter-Korean cooperation is interpreted as a will to independently expand the space for cooperation with North Korea and create opportunities for improving relations, regardless of progress in North Korea-US and inter-Korean talks.

Minister of Unification Kim Yeon-chul also said at a press briefing on the 7th, "We are planning and preparing to actively pursue the areas we can work on," and announced that trial tours of Panmunjom will resume from June.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.