"No Effort to Communicate"... Moon Criticizes Yoon Administration's North Korea Policy Again

Criticism of Current Government's Hardline North Korea Policy
Last Month Also Called It "Inter-Korean Relations Breakdown," "Peace Is Economy"

Former President Moon Jae-in once again indirectly criticized the current government's North Korea policy on the 16th anniversary of the October 4 Inter-Korean Joint Declaration on the 4th. This is the second time following the 5th anniversary event of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration last month.

Through Facebook, former President Moon stated, "Inter-Korean relations have once again entered a dark tunnel with no end in sight," adding, "In an international order where confrontation is intensifying, tensions on the Korean Peninsula are escalating, and I am deeply concerned as there is no sign of dialogue efforts."

He evaluated, "The bold vision of the October 4 Declaration is a grand aspiration embodying the hopes of our people, and at the same time, a concrete goal that can be achieved if both South and North have the will to act. Although there was a long 11-year gap and regression after that historic declaration, it was revived through the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration and the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration, driven by the people's desire for peace, bringing us one step closer to the goals we seek."

He continued, "If the people earnestly desire peace together and unite their strength, we can end this dark time sooner and move toward a bright future," adding, "Only then will the door to dialogue open again, and the era of peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula envisioned by the October 4 Declaration will come closer."

The October 4 Inter-Korean Joint Declaration, marking its 16th anniversary on this day, was announced at the 2nd Inter-Korean Summit in 2007 by former President Roh Moo-hyun and former National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il. It contained concrete and practical commitments regarding inter-Korean relations, including the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula, joint prosperity, and reconciliation through mutual respect.

Former President Moon Jae-in is delivering a greeting at the 5th anniversary ceremony of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration held on the afternoon of the 19th of last month at the 63 Building in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Former President Moon's remarks this time appear to indirectly criticize the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's hardline North Korea policy. President Yoon has criticized the previous Moon Jae-in administration's North Korea stance as a "fake peace theory" (at the 71st anniversary ceremony of the Veterans Association on the 4th) and has emphasized strengthening security cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan. Shin Won-sik, the nominee for Minister of National Defense, has also expressed the position that the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement should be scrapped.

Earlier, on the 19th of last month, at the 5th anniversary event of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration, former President Moon said, "It is deeply regrettable and distressing to think about the broken state of inter-Korean relations today." This was the first official event he attended after leaving office, where he openly criticized the current government's security policy.

Emphasizing the concept of 'baton passing' in North Korea policy, former President Moon explained, "Starting from the July 4 Joint Statement under the Park Chung-hee administration, through the Basic Agreement on North-South Relations under the Roh Tae-woo administration, the June 15 Joint Declaration under the Kim Dae-jung administration, the October 4 Joint Declaration under the Roh Moo-hyun administration, and the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration and September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration under the Moon Jae-in administration, successive governments have carried the baton across long gaps," adding, "Each time the baton was passed, inter-Korean relations developed and peace advanced."

He also argued, "It is time to break free from the fabricated myth that 'security is better under conservative governments' and 'the economy is better under conservative governments.'" Former President Moon stated, "Another important lesson that the Panmunjom Declaration and Pyongyang Joint Declaration teach us is that 'peace is the economy.' When comparing successive governments from a macro perspective, the economic performance during periods of relatively peaceful inter-Korean relations through baton passing was always better than during other times. The periods when our economy's scale, that is, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), entered the world's top 10 were only during the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations."

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