Foreign minister calls security situation 'grave'

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, left in the front row, and ministry officials sing the national anthem ahead of the meeting of Korea’s diplomatic mission chiefs at the ministry in Seoul, Monday. The annual gathering will continue through May 24. / Yonhap

By Kim Tae-gyu

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Monday that the country faces a “grave” security situation after North Korea launched short-range missiles over the weekend.

The nation’s top diplomat made the remarks at the first meeting of Korea’s diplomatic mission chiefs since President Park Geun-hye’s inauguration.

“We are facing multiple challenges. This means that we are standing at a historic turning point,” Yun said in an opening speech at the conference.

“We are staying on our toes because of the serious situation on the Korean Peninsula caused by North Korean nuclear threats and the regressive attitudes of some Northeast Asian countries,” referring to Japan as the country’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe continues to make ultra-nationalistic remarks.

Abe has denied his country’s aggressive actions against neighboring countries before and during World War II, contending that the term “invasion” has not been “defined” internationally or academically.

Last week, he infuriated past victims of imperialist Japan by having a picture taken in a training jet with the number 731. The number reminded people of Unit 731, a covert biological and chemical unit that had been notorious for experiments on humans.

A total of 122 ambassadors and consuls general participated in the five-day event, which kicked off Monday to brief them on the foreign policy goals of the incumbent administration.

The diplomats also visited the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul for a one-and-a-half hour briefing by Minister Kim Kwan-jin, an unprecedented event on the first day of the annual conference.

Kim elaborated on the country’s security policies and defense industries, which he said depend on close cooperation with Korean embassies across the world.

“If national defense and diplomacy go hand-in-hand, we will be able to create new benefits for our nation,” Kim said.

The diplomats are scheduled to study up on the “creative economy,” the economic target of the Park administration through boosting convergence industries and venture start-ups.

They will also attend a briefing by Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae on peaceful unification of the two Koreas, which are still technically at war after the Korean War (1950-53) ended with an armistice, not peace treaty.