Yoo Seung-min "Disappointed with Korea-US Summit... North Korea, China, and Russia Must Be Laughing"

Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min described the outcome of the South Korea-US summit as "a disappointing report card" and said, "North Korea, China, and Russia must be laughing."

In a post on Facebook on the 27th, Yoo evaluated that the summit failed to secure economic benefits and that the response to North Korea's nuclear threat was nothing more than flashy rhetoric without any game changer.

Specifically, he pointed out, "I had hoped the summit would address the discrimination and regulatory issues imposed on our companies by the US Chips Act (CHIPS and Science Act) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in key industries such as semiconductors, electric vehicles, and batteries, but there was no achievement at all," adding, "Our companies like Samsung and SK, which have made large-scale investments in China, are now at a loss about what to do with their factories there."

Former Assemblyman Yoo Seung-min. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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Regarding the 'Washington Declaration,' which centers on the establishment of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) as part of an expanded deterrence response to North Korea, he said, "It is nothing more than a feast of words with flashy rhetoric added to the existing nuclear umbrella and extended deterrence," and argued, "It is essentially no different from the existing Extended Deterrence Strategy Committee (EDSCG)."

Yoo stated, "The consultations of the Nuclear Consultative Group are inferior to NATO's Nuclear Planning Group (NPG). NATO has deployed 150 to 200 B-61 nuclear bombs across five member countries, but we have no nuclear weapons," and criticized, "Although US strategic assets such as strategic bombers and nuclear submarines regularly come, they leave after a few days."

Regarding the declaration's statement that "we recognize the importance, necessity, and benefits of South Korea's continued reliance on US nuclear deterrence," Yoo said he was "shocked" and claimed, "South Korea's continuous dependence on the US is an impolite expression that should not be used between allies."

He added, "As the price for this continued dependence, President Yoon Suk-yeol promised to uphold the obligations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and reaffirmed compliance with the US-Korea Atomic Energy Agreement, thereby completely blocking the possibility of independent nuclear development. It is puzzling why the president himself mentioned the possibility of independent nuclear development just three months ago," criticizing the inconsistency.

Yoo mentioned, "If Ukraine had not given up its nuclear weapons at the time of the Soviet Union's collapse, Russia would not have dared to invade Ukraine by force," and said, "The Budapest Memorandum, which urged Ukraine to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for guarantees of its territory, independence, and security, has taken the lives of the Ukrainian people 28 years later."

He continued, "The signatories of this memorandum are the US, Russia, and the UK. Ukraine made the tragic mistake of giving up its nuclear weapons and trying to secure safety with a piece of paper," warning that South Korea could face a similar situation.

He emphasized, "We should not think it ends with the Washington Declaration; we must continue desperate efforts to secure a new game changer to seek our survival."

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