Yoon Geon-young: "North Korea Communication Line Cut Crisis Must Be Resolved Through Agreement Implementation... Including Railway Connection"

Interview_Yoon Geon-young, Former Chief of the Blue House National Situation Room./Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] Yoon Gun-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated that the situation of North Korea cutting off and dismantling communication lines should be taken very seriously, and analyzed that it could be resolved through the implementation of inter-Korean agreements such as the railway connection project.

On the morning of the 9th, Yoon appeared on MBC Radio and said, "Military communication lines serve at least as a safety mechanism," adding, "Looking at the current situation as it is, it is indeed a situation that must be taken very seriously."

Regarding the cause of this incident, he said, "There have been many agreements through the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration and the September 19 Pyongyang Summit. This can be interpreted as the cumulative result of those agreements not being properly upheld," and added, "A representative example is the distribution of leaflets to North Korea, which was a part agreed upon by the South and North Korean leaders in the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration."

Yoon said, "As someone who oversaw the practical work of the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration and the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration, I believe that now is a time when implementation is even more important." He continued, "Fundamentally, there is the 1991 Basic Agreement between South and North Korea. If only the Basic Agreement were properly implemented, there would be no unresolved issues in inter-Korean relations," emphasizing this point. He also said, "The fact that Kim Yo-jong, the First Deputy Director, has taken the lead in inter-Korean affairs is positive in itself."

When asked, "What can be done now?" he replied, "I think the starting point should be the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19)." When asked, "Joint quarantine or medical support has already been proposed but there has been no response, hasn't there?" he said, "Even if there is no response, I believe the answer lies within that silence. Broadly speaking, one axis is the COVID-19 related issues, and the second is the inter-Korean agreements resulting from summit outcomes, such as railway connection and other feasible parts."

Regarding the legislation to ban the distribution of leaflets to North Korea, which Kim Tae-nyeon, the Democratic Party floor leader, announced he would pursue, Yoon said, "I believe it is possible under current law."

Meanwhile, North Korea’s state media, the Korean Central News Agency, reported on the same day, "From 12:00 on June 9, 2020, the communication lines between the North and South authorities maintained through the inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office, the East-West Sea communication lines between the military authorities of the North and South, the inter-Korean communication test lines, and the direct communication line between the Workers' Party Central Committee headquarters and the Blue House will be completely cut off and dismantled."

The communication criticized the South Korean government's response to the leaflets, stating, "The South Korean authorities have shirked their grave responsibilities by hiding behind trivial excuses, tolerating the anti-Republic hostile acts of trash, and have driven inter-Korean relations to a catastrophic end."

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