Minister Seo Wook Expresses Regret Over Disrespectful Behavior

Minister of National Defense Seo Wook and other Cabinet members are attending the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 11th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]On the 31st, Defense Minister Seo Wook expressed regret over North Korea's harsh criticism of President Moon Jae-in in response to the termination of the South Korea-US missile guidelines, stating, "I regret the disrespectful remarks toward the head of state."

At the National Assembly's Defense Committee that afternoon, Minister Seo responded to People Power Party lawmaker Kang Dae-sik's criticism that the government has remained 'silent' despite North Korea's denunciations of South Korea by saying, "I think such remarks are very inappropriate."

However, Minister Seo explained, "As someone responsible for national defense, I believe it is not appropriate for me to respond to comments made at the level of an international affairs commentator from North Korea."

Minister Seo also showed a cautious stance in earlier related inquiries, stating, "Since these are not statements from credible and responsible authorities, I think we should just observe."

Earlier, North Korea defined the termination of the South Korea-US missile guidelines as a hostile policy against the North and criticized the United States.

On the same day, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency published an article titled "What is the Aim of Ending the Missile Guidelines?" authored by international affairs commentator Kim Myung-chul, criticizing the termination of the South Korea-US missile guidelines as a "deliberate hostile act" and "a concentrated expression of the US's hostile policy toward North Korea."

The South Korean government judged that the Biden administration's expression of respect for the Panmunjom Declaration and the Singapore Joint Declaration provided many positive factors for North Korea, but North Korea chose to pick a fight over the missile guidelines. From North Korea's perspective, unlike the South, which is free from missile development restrictions, their missile development is subject to strong UN Security Council sanctions, so they appear to be expressing dissatisfaction.

There is also analysis that North Korea represented China's position, considering that North Korea was already within the range of South Korean missiles even before the range restrictions were lifted.

Experts predict that the upcoming South Korea-US joint military exercises expected in August could be a turning point for the resumption of North Korea-US talks. While there is speculation that the South Korea-US exercises might be scaled down considering North Korea-US dialogue and the COVID-19 situation, there are also concerns that North Korea might use the exercises as a pretext for provocations.

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