Taeyoungho "No Response from North Korea... Will Monitor Public Opinion Trends"

Koo Min-hee, People Power Party Lawmaker, KBS Radio Interview

Amid North Korea's silence on the incident involving a US soldier crossing into North Korea, Tae Young-ho, a member of the People Power Party, said, "They will probably observe the trend of public opinion."

On the 20th, Tae appeared on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strongest Current Affairs' and explained, "When such incidents occur, North Korea has so far used them very well to boost its image. However, during the Otto Warmbier case, they sent him back to the US in a near-death state," adding, "That incident solidified the perception of North Korea as a barbaric country."

He continued, "So, North Korea will likely approach this incident cautiously," and said, "Moreover, the US government must approach this incident very strategically and tactically."

Tae Young-ho, member of the People Power Party. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Regarding the repatriation of the US soldier who crossed into North Korea, he said, "(The US government) has leaked several times to the media that Jang Byeon had a history of assault," adding, "So, moving forward, even though he avoided punishment by voluntarily crossing over at the time, the narrative that he was not in a fully rational mental state when making that decision is being emphasized, which allows North Korea to save face in sending him back."

He added, "If they try to bring him back, his own choice is very important," and said, "He went to North Korea with that mindset, but if, after living there, he realizes that he made a wrong choice, he must personally request to be sent back to his home country."

Tae also said, "Lastly, what is more important is that his mother has started to come forward," and added, "Now, the mother must ask for her son to be returned, and the US government must carefully proceed step by step with negotiation skills such as having the mother enter Pyongyang and meet him. I believe this is very important."

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