Yoo Sang-beom: "Yoo Seung-min Intentionally Belittles Knowing the Effect of the 'Washington Declaration'"

Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min's evaluation of the 'Washington Declaration' as "flashy but hollow" was criticized by Yoo Sang-beom, the senior spokesperson of the People Power Party, who called it a "very narrow-minded attitude that deliberately disparages it despite knowing its meaning."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 2nd, spokesperson Yoo said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "Former lawmaker Yoo probably understands the meaning of the Washington Declaration well, having served long on the National Defense Committee or Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee," and made this remark.

He explained, "Although the U.S. has repeatedly reassured South Korea by referring to the nuclear umbrella and extended deterrence, simply as rhetoric, the situation is completely different when it is documented like this," adding, "From the moment it is documented, the U.S. has made a global commitment to upgrade the so-called mutual defense treaty that includes nuclear weapons as stated in that document."

This means that the effect of de facto nuclear sharing can be seen.

Spokesperson Yoo raised his voice, saying, "Another special aspect is the creation of a one-on-one consultation group specialized for North Korean nuclear issues, through which South Korea can negotiate the deployment of nuclear assets," and "In fact, South Korea has secured an important participatory role and a position to express opinions regarding the deployment of U.S. nuclear assets."

Regarding criticism from some conservatives about 'nuclear sovereignty,' he explained, "If we talk about nuclear sovereignty, it ultimately means developing our own nuclear weapons or deploying strategic nuclear weapons, which is premised on disarmament, and fundamentally assumes recognition of North Korea's nuclear weapons," adding, "However, if we were to move toward such a system, the biggest problem would be the withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)."

He said, "If we withdraw from the NPT, international sanctions would be very strong, and when international sanctions are imposed by countries that are our main export partners, we can fully anticipate the shock it would bring to the South Korean economy," and "Since nuclear power generation is a major source of electricity production, if the import of nuclear fuel is restricted, our power generation itself could be problematic. Due to these various aspects, a strategic choice was made."

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