Jung Jin-seok: "If North Korea proceeds with nuclear test, joint denuclearization declaration will be terminated"... North demands "nuclear umbrella suspension" (Summary)

Jung Jin-seok "North Korea Conducts Tactical Nuclear Unit Live Drills Targeting South Korea"
Lee Jae-myung "A Nation That Forgets History Has No Future"
North Korea "Stop Providing US Nuclear Umbrella"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, attended the National Future Forum held at the CCMM Building in Yeouido, Seoul on the 12th, and greeted Chung Jin-seok, emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Jang Hee-jun] Jeong Jin-seok, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, argued on the 12th that if North Korea proceeds with its 7th nuclear test, the 1991 Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula should also be nullified. This is notable as the ruling party has specified measures amid President Yoon Seok-yeol leaving room for the 'redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons.' On the same day, North Korea's ambassador to the UN demanded the suspension of the U.S. nuclear umbrella provision alongside the joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises.

Chairman Jeong stated on his social network service (SNS), "North Korea, one party to the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, has declared itself a nuclear-armed state and is conducting live-fire exercises with tactical nuclear operational units aimed at South Korea," asserting this position.

The Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, agreed upon by the North and South in 1991, entails a commitment not to test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy, or use nuclear weapons.

He said, "We alone have bound ourselves by the denuclearization declaration between the North and South from over 30 years ago," adding, "Now is the moment of decision. If North Korea proceeds with the 7th nuclear test, not only the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement signed during the Moon Jae-in administration but also the 1991 Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula must be nullified." He continued, "Kim Jong-un revealed the 'tactical nuclear operational unit' on October 10, the Workers' Party founding day. Nuclear bombs could fall over our heads at any time," and argued, "We must not forget the tyranny of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un, who promised denuclearization firmly but completed nuclear armament; otherwise, South Korea has no future."

Chairman Jeong's remarks came after President Yoon Seok-yeol opened the possibility of redeploying tactical nuclear weapons. President Yoon had said the previous day in response to related questions, "We are carefully listening to and considering various opinions from both South Korea and the United States." This led to interpretations that progress might have been made. When reporters asked if the 'nullification of the denuclearization declaration' meant advocating for the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons, Chairman Jeong responded, "It is a bit of a stretch to connect the two directly," and took a step back, saying, "We cannot easily disregard the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) system."

The confrontation between ruling and opposition party leaders over 'anti-Japan' issues continued that day as well. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, posted on his SNS the previous day a sentence saying, "A nation that forgets its history has no future," and during the Supreme Council meeting that morning, he said, "It is truly hard to believe the claim that joint South Korea-U.S.-Japan military exercises are inevitable because defense is difficult without the help of the country that forcibly invaded South Korea for decades," calling for "a wake-up call."

Chairman Jeong responded, "A nation that forgets its history has no future. That is correct. A nation that does not know the truth of history has no future," emphasizing, "We must not forget the history of the June 25 North Korean invasion that took millions of innocent lives." This was interpreted as targeting Lee's SNS remarks and underscoring the urgency of responding to North Korea's nuclear threat.

Meanwhile, North Korea, through Kim Song, its ambassador to the UN, demanded the suspension of the U.S. nuclear umbrella. Ambassador Kim stated at the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting held at the UN headquarters in New York on the 11th (local time), "The tyranny and arbitrariness of the United States, which seeks to maintain hegemony today, are the fundamental causes of the arms race occurring worldwide," adding, "The clearest signs of U.S. military expansion can be found on the Korean Peninsula."

In his speech to the First Committee, responsible for disarmament and international security, he criticized the U.S. by listing the deployment of cutting-edge strategic assets such as the B-52H, B-2A, and F-35A, the joint U.S.-South Korea military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS), and the deployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to the Korean Peninsula. He argued that North Korea's self-defense armament against the U.S.'s heinous hostile acts is an exercise of the right to self-defense guaranteed by the UN Charter and international law, claiming, "The main mission of our self-defense capabilities is to deter war by making the enemy abandon attempts at invasion and military attacks." He further emphasized that for complete nuclear disarmament to be realized, the U.S. must take the lead in nuclear disarmament and refrain from supplying the nuclear umbrella.

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