"Fabricated Myth" Moon Criticizes Yoon Administration... Reasons for the Raised Tone of Remarks

Close aide Yoon Geon-young on Moon's resolute message
"Seems like advice to Yoon to properly manage state affairs"
"A difficult situation to watch as a political elder"

Former President Moon Jae-in, attending his first official event since stepping down, strongly criticized the overall governance of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Yoon Geon-young, a Democratic Party lawmaker considered one of Moon's closest aides, analyzed that "Former President Moon has delivered a deliberate message."

In his speech at the 5th anniversary ceremony of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration on the 19th, former President Moon criticized the current government's economic and security policies across the board. He also outright rejected claims from the ruling party calling for the annulment of the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement, saying it would be "an irresponsible act that removes the last safety pin preventing military clashes between the two Koreas."

On the 19th, on MBC Radio's 'Shin Jang-sik's News Highkick,' Lawmaker Yoon said, "The Yoon Suk-yeol government has refused to continue the so-called baton passing of state affairs solely out of stubbornness and dogmatism, which has led to the collapse of inter-Korean relations and economic difficulties. For example, the national income in 2022 was much lower than in 2021." He added, "Based on his five years of experience as the immediate past president, it seems that former President Moon is advising the Yoon administration to properly manage state affairs, not based on ideology or factionalism."

The speech containing a strong message was also written by former President Moon himself. On the 20th, on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' Lawmaker Yoon stated, "He did not just add some parts to the draft prepared by the staff; the president essentially rewrote it. It is as if the president personally wrote the entire speech from beginning to end."

Lawmaker Yoon highlighted two key points from former President Moon's speech that day. The first was the statement, "It is time to break free from the fabricated myth that 'security is better handled by conservative governments' and 'the economy is better under conservative governments.'" Yoon emphasized, "Many people commonly believe that conservative governments handle security well and have also managed the economy well, but that is a fabricated myth. Now, it is necessary to break that."

The second was the remark that "governing the country is like a relay race." In his speech, former President Moon described the efforts of past administrations to improve inter-Korean relations as a "relay race," saying, "During the periods when inter-Korean relations were relatively peaceful through this relay race, economic performance was always better than during other times. Although we now say we are among the world's top 10 economies, the only times Korea entered the top 10 in GDP were during the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations."

Regarding this, Lawmaker Yoon said, "This is something he often mentioned even during his tenure. The current Yoon Suk-yeol government is not running a relay race but rather a 400-meter relay where the baton is thrown far away and abandoned, and the government is recklessly pushing forward alone with dogmatism and stubbornness." He added, "No matter how the administration changes, if the baton passing in governance does not happen, the resulting losses will be borne entirely by the people. I believe this is the regret he expressed."

Although former President Moon said he wanted to be forgotten after retiring and returning to his hometown, he has recently appeared frequently in political issues, drawing criticism for his frequent political remarks as a former president. In response, Lawmaker Yoon said that it is the current government and ruling party that are calling out the former president who wishes to be forgotten, and that the current situation is difficult for a national elder to remain silent about.

Lawmaker Yoon pointed out, "The People Power Party and the Yoon Suk-yeol government are calling out someone who wants to be forgotten and remain quiet into Yeouido politics. They are trying to erase everything about the Moon Jae-in administration, investigating four policy chiefs, attempting to detain the chief of staff, detaining the security chief, investigating dozens of ministers and vice ministers, and issuing warrants in this situation."

He continued, "I want to ask whether it is right for a national elder and former president to just remain silent in the current situation. I think former President Moon must have judged that it is not right to stay quiet as a senior figure when a crisis to peace on the Korean Peninsula is looming over inter-Korean relations."

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