Former President Moon's Indirect Criticism of President Yoon: "Still Stuck in Cold War Thinking..."

Introducing Former Vice Minister Choi Jong-geon's New Book and Mentioning North Korea Policy
"Seemingly Retaliating Against President Yoon's Criticism of Previous Government's North Korea Policy"

Former President Moon Jae-in indirectly criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 3rd, saying, "There are still many people who have not escaped from Cold War thinking."

On the same day, former President Moon introduced the book The Power of Peace written by former First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-geon through social media (SNS) and made these remarks. He stated, "As a divided country that has experienced war, there is no nation more desperate for peace than ours," adding, "Peace must be accompanied by defense and diplomacy. Without efforts to resolve hostility between the North and South through dialogue and diplomatic efforts to leverage the geopolitical environment favorably, it is difficult to achieve stable peace that is not easily shaken."

Former President Moon explained that the nation's power, including the economy, changed depending on the relationship with North Korea. He evaluated, "The Northern Policy of the Roh Tae-woo administration, which established diplomatic relations with communist countries and signed the North-South Basic Agreement with North Korea, was the most revolutionary turning point and decision in our diplomatic history," and added, "The Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon Jae-in administrations inherited and developed that policy. During those times, inter-Korean relations improved, peace was relatively maintained, and balanced diplomacy was enhanced. It was also during this period that national income increased significantly, leading to the era of $20,000 and $30,000 per capita income." Conversely, he mentioned, "In administrations that did not follow this, the opposite occurred," stating, "Inter-Korean relations regressed, peace became precarious, and even national income stagnated or decreased."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Former President Moon said, "Despite such clear comparisons, there are still many people who have not escaped from Cold War thinking," and added, "I wonder how different inter-Korean relations, security situations, and even the economy would have been if successive governments had consistently carried on policies for peace." He expressed the opinion that if each administration had developed and succeeded the achievements of previous governments' North Korea policies, both our security and economy would have had better outcomes.

Although his writing seems to introduce the recently published book by former Vice Minister Choi, it can also be interpreted as a message to the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Earlier, President Yoon said at the founding anniversary event of the Federation of Korean Freedom Fighters, "Anti-state forces with distorted historical consciousness and irresponsible national views pleaded for the lifting of UN Security Council sanctions against the North Korean communist group that is advancing its nuclear armament and sang the chorus for a declaration of the end of the war that would dismantle the UN Command," adding, "It was a chorus for a declaration of the end of the war to prevent the automatic operation of the UN Command and its forces if North Korea invades again." In response, opposition parties including the Democratic Party criticized President Yoon's remarks as directed at the Moon Jae-in administration and the Democratic Party. On the 2nd, President Yoon also stated regarding Kim Young-ho, a professor at Sungshin Women's University nominated as Minister of Unification, that the role of the Ministry of Unification is "not a department for North Korean aid."

Meanwhile, former President Moon described former Vice Minister Choi's book as "a very welcome book," and said, "It contains content that I would like to include if I ever write memoirs about the Moon Jae-in administration's view on peace, tireless efforts for peace, achievements and limitations, and reflections."

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