Ha Tae-kyung: "The Dedicated Plane's Trip to Dokdo Was Doing What Japanese Far-Right Likes"

Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, criticized Jeon Yong-gi, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, for his 'Dokdo landing' performance, saying, "He did something that Japanese right-wing extremists like."

On the 4th, Ha said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "What Japanese right-wing extremists want is to make Dokdo an issue," expressing this view.

He referred to former President Lee Myung-bak, who had visited Dokdo in the past, saying, "There is no reason why I or anyone else cannot go to Dokdo. Nevertheless, we do not go," and added, "I cannot help but mention former President Lee because when he went to Dokdo, it kept emphasizing that Korea and Japan were fighting over Dokdo."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "So now that a Korean lawmaker has publicly gone, Japanese right-wing extremists will say, 'Hey, it's our land, but he went there. Let's go too,'" and added, "There might even be Japanese right-wing lawmakers who come in through Gimpo Airport or this side, saying they will go to Dokdo."

Ha said, "From our standpoint, since we effectively control Dokdo, not making it an issue is in our national interest," and added, "Some lawmakers from our party have gone, but that is very undesirable, and in any case, making Dokdo an issue itself is playing into the hands of Japanese right-wing extremists."

He said, "Japanese right-wing extremists want to keep making it an issue, and when it becomes an issue, international media and foreign press write about it as a conflict area where Korea and Japan clashed," adding, "So Dokdo keeps becoming a disputed area in the international community."

In response to the host's question, 'Do we have to be mindful of Japanese right-wing extremists?' Ha replied, "It's not so much being mindful as it is a strategy," explaining, "For example, there is a disputed maritime area on the West Sea between North and South Korea, and North Korea keeps provoking fights, firing shells and guns. We shouldn't get caught up in North Korea's strategy. It's the same thing." He explained that making Dokdo an issue means falling into Japan's strategy.

Regarding the purpose of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida's visit to Korea this weekend, he explained it is about 'nuclear leadership.' Ha said, "Japan seems to have become somewhat desperate," and added, "There are about six countries in the Asia-Pacific region with military alliances with the U.S., and among them, Japan was the strongest ally, but with Korea forming the U.S.-Korea Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), Korea has become a stronger ally."

The purpose is to join the U.S.-Korea nuclear consultative group. He said, "Japan also faces the North Korean nuclear threat, which might actually be greater than ours," and added, "Japan wants to have nuclear consultations with the U.S. as well, so it wants to join the U.S.-Korea Nuclear Consultative Group. But it can only join if Korea agrees."

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