Lee Jae-myung "Concerns Over Deterioration of China-Russia Relations... Yoon Government Must Fully Reconsider 'Biased Diplomacy'"

"Must Open the Door to Dialogue"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out on the 23rd anniversary of the June 15 North-South Summit that "the most concerning issue is the rapid deterioration of relations with China and Russia, which can be considered the core pillars of peace and regional stability on the Korean Peninsula," regarding the current government's foreign policy.

On the 15th, Lee attended the '23rd Anniversary Ceremony and Academic Conference of the June 15 North-South Summit' held at the Kim Dae-jung Library and stated in his congratulatory speech, "We must not push the Korean Peninsula back into the heart of a new Cold War through biased factional diplomacy."

Lee said, "Since the conservative government took office, confrontational policies of tit-for-tat have been repeated," and added, "Since the launch of the Yoon Seok-youl administration, communication channels have been blocked, and military tensions have escalated."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "Peace is economy, and peace is security," emphasizing, "Winning without fighting is important, and the best security is a state where there is no need to fight. In other words, it is about creating peace."

He stated, "The hardline, one-sided North Korea policy and biased diplomacy must be thoroughly reviewed," and added, "The door to dialogue must be opened wide once again."

Earlier, Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming criticized the Yoon Seok-youl administration's foreign policy during a dinner with Lee Jae-myung on the 8th, saying, "Betting on the U.S. winning and China losing is a wrong judgment," which sparked controversy over 'interference in internal affairs' and 'bullying diplomacy.' In response, President Yoon Seok-youl reportedly mentioned that Ambassador Xing Haiming's remarks were diplomatically inappropriate.

The June 15 North-South Joint Declaration is a declaration issued during the first North-South summit held in Pyongyang from June 13 to 15, 2000, between former President Kim Dae-jung and former National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il. Through this, the North and South agreed on five clauses, including ▲independent resolution of unification issues ▲resolution of humanitarian issues ▲activation of exchanges such as economic cooperation.

On the same day, Yang Jae-jin, director of the Kim Dae-jung Library at Yonsei University, emphasized at the conference, "The new Cold War is no longer awkward. The authoritarian forces of China and Russia are clashing again," and added, "(President Kim Dae-jung) led international affairs and diplomacy with the four major security guarantees in the June 15 Declaration."

Kim Jin-pyo, Speaker of the National Assembly, who also participated in the conference, said, "We cannot just stand by because conditions are unfavorable," and added, "It is a time when a scholarly sense of problem awareness and a merchant's sense of reality are needed."

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