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| President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting with his senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. Yonhap |
By Do Je-hae
The opposition bloc and the public are becoming increasingly frustrated by President Moon Jae-in's subdued message toward Pyongyang following the suspected killing of a South Korean national by North Korean troops in the North's territorial waters.
Critics say Moon, as head of state and therefore the person responsible for citizens' lives and security, should take a stronger stance toward the North instead of trying to play down the issue for fear of harming inter-Korean relations.
The South Korean leader reiterated his desire to work with the North on a thorough investigation into the case during a weekly meeting with his senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday, six days after the incident.
In particular, he underlined his appreciation for the apology from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un contained in a notice issued Sept. 25 by Pyongyang's United Front Department, which deals with inter-Korean relations.
The notice arrived at Cheong Wa Dae just one day after President Moon, according to a statement from his office, urged the North Korean authorities to take responsibility for the killing of the South Korean maritime official who is believed to have been shot dead after crossing the maritime border between the two Koreas on Sept. 22.
"The North Korean authorities quickly apologized and promised to prevent a recurrence a day after our government demanded they take responsibility. We deem it to be a clear indication of North Korea's willingness to avoid aggravating the situation and to prevent inter-Korean relations from ending up in an irreparable state," Moon said.
"There is special meaning in Chairman Kim Jong-un's message to our people in which said he was very sorry. It is the first time in North Korea's history that a direct, immediate apology has been made by the country's leader. This shows that Kim recognizes the gravity of the incident and reaffirms his hope that inter-Korean relations will not fall apart."
This was the first time for President Moon to publicly mention the incident. He presided over a meeting with officials in charge of national security, Sunday, after which the presidential office announced that Seoul would officially request a joint investigation with the North, saying that it "positively assessed the swift apology."
But President Moon's eagerness to embrace Kim's apology is being met with criticism from the opposition and the people who see the apology as a mere tactic to avoid condemnation from the international community rather than a sincere apology for the atrocity that it committed against a South Korean national.
Kim Chong-in, interim leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), criticized the Moon administration's response.
"It is hard to understand why the government is taking such a lenient stance on the North Korean issue," he said during a party meeting, Monday. "The government's attitude was very ambiguous when the North destroyed the inter-Korean liaison office in Gaeseong. In this case, the government is showing the same kind of behavior."
In the meantime, Unification Minister Lee In-young said he regards the notice sent by North Korea's United Front Department as an official stance from its leader Kim.
When an opposition lawmaker said in a National Assembly session, Monday, that the notice only stated Kim's stance indirectly, the minister said, "I regard it as official because (the department) sent it to us after writing down what Kim said."
He also said the North's apology was unusual and swift, but he did not believe this was enough to make South Koreans safe, claiming there needs to be more done to resolve the issue in consideration of the victim's family.
