Joo Ho-young: "The 'price to pay' Kim Yo-jong mentioned is not a ban on leaflets"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, pointed out on the 14th that "the government's hasty response is not the 'paying the price' that Kim Jong-un wants."

On the same day, Joo said on Facebook, "Will Kim Jong-un and his sister thank us just because leaflet distribution is banned?"

He criticized, "During the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations, North Korea consistently demanded one thing in various secret contacts: 500,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer," adding, "The 150,000 tons of rice aid from the Kim Young-sam administration increased in scale through the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations."

He continued, "At that time, North Korean officials complained, 'We should at least have 500,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer as a baseline; why are we so stingy among our own people?' After the closure of the Mount Kumgang tours and the Kaesong Industrial Complex, they pleaded, 'Please release even one thing,'" recalling the situation.

Joo said, "Professor Moon Jung-in, a special advisor to President Moon Jae-in, declared over the past three years that 'Mount Kumgang and the Kaesong Industrial Complex can be reopened unilaterally by us without U.S. permission.' Kim Jong-un busily traveled to Singapore and Hanoi with that expectation."

He added, "Kim Jong-un painfully realized that the Moon Jae-in administration lacks the power to independently lift U.S. and international sanctions against North Korea," and said, "Kim Jong-un, General Secretary, and Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Director, are shouting at President Moon Jae-in, 'Keep at least one of the promises you made.'"

Joo concluded, "In the remaining two years of the Moon Jae-in administration, inter-Korean relations seem likely to be only tumultuous without producing results," and said, "Kim Jong-un and his sister chose the wrong partner. Unfortunately."

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