I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
PM apologizes over Dokdo facility plan
Opposition party demands that Chung, foreign minister resign
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won apologized on Friday for causing confusion regarding the plan to build a maintenance and safety facility on the easternmost islets of Dokdo, which was cancelled this month.
“As prime minister overseeing the project, I would like to extend my sincere apology for the reversal of the plan,” he said during a meeting with the National Assembly special committee on budget.
Chung said the cabinet ministers, who joined the meeting on Nov.1 over which he presided at his office, concluded that scrapping the plan was the right thing to do.
“Dokdo is apparently part of Korean territory geographically, historically and legally,” he said. “Thus we concluded that we don’t need to make a case for our territorial claim because it is ours.
“No one is going to claim their right on the house they already own. We decided to scrap the plan because we thought leaving the islets intact without constructing such a facility will be better in terms of safety, environmental and aesthetic reasons.”
Chung said the plan was suspended, not canceled.
“We are going to discuss safety and environmental issues of the facility first,” he said. “Once this is done, we thought we could further discuss whether we should go for the facility project or not. So we decided to hold it for the time being.”
Earlier, Chung discussed the project with the ministers of foreign affairs and fisheries. They decided to scrap the plan to set up a two-story building designed for maintenance and safety.
The change of heart came days after the Public Procurement Service posted the bid on Oct. 20 to construct the building on the islets to strengthen Korea’s sovereignty.
On Friday, the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) demanded that Prime Minister Chung and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se resign to take responsibility for flip-flopping on the Dokdo facility.
Floor leader Woo Yoon-keun claimed the Park Geun-hye government’s inability in domestic politics seemed to have had a spillover effect on the territorial issue. Quoting a Japanese cabinet minister, who said the Korean government’s decision to scrap the project was a diplomatic victory for Japan, the opposition politician said the Korean public was deeply disappointed about the decision.
Woo alleged that Prime Minster Chung, who made the final decision on the project, had lied to his fellow Koreans. Other NPAD lawmakers criticized Foreign Minister Yun for neglecting his duty to preserve national territory.