Moon asked to keep N. Korea sanctions
By Jun Ji-hye
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Kim Young-woo
The National Assembly Defense Committee Chairman Kim Young-woo called on the Moon Jae-in government Wednesday to take a cautious approach in reviewing economic sanctions imposed on North Korea following a torpedo attack in 2010.
Kim, a Bareun Party lawmaker, warned that if the Moon government eases or lifts the sanctions, with the North showing no signs of changing its attitude, it will send the wrong signal to the country.
Kim made the comment in a news conference to mark the seventh year since the so-called May 24 Sanctions were slapped on Pyongyang in retaliation for the North’s torpedo attack on the Navy corvette Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors.
“If the Moon government decides to lift the sanctions, there will be no way for the Assembly to stop it,” Kim said. “But the government should take a cautious attitude in handling this matter after taking all aspects such as principles, international cooperation and national integration into consideration.”
The Moon administration has been moving to resume humanitarian assistance to the North and civilian inter-Korean exchanges to end nearly a decade of frozen ties between the two Koreas under his two conservative predecessors.
One major obstacle in doing so is the May 24 Sanctions that banned all economic cooperation with the North and put aid projects on hold.
Moon Chung-in, an honorary professor at Yonsei University, who was recently appointed as a security advisor for President Moon, has suggested lifting the sanctions, reopening the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and resuming the suspended tour program to Mount Geumgang in the North.
Unification ministry spokesman Lee Duk-haeng also said, Monday, “The government will flexibly review civilian exchanges and other measures involving inter-Korean ties to the extent that they do not compromise international sanctions.”
Rep. Kim said he is “very much concerned” about the Moon government’s move to ease sanctions on North Korea when the U.N. Security Council is discussing whether to impose harsher sanctions in response to the Kim Jong-un regime’s continuous nuclear threats and missile tests.
Kim stressed that Pyongyang has conducted two ballistic missile tests already since Moon’s inauguration, May 10.
“The nation will meet a disaster if the government suddenly changes its inter-Korean policy simply because political power was changed,” he said. “This will also damage the international cooperation and cause conflict between the South Korean people.”
He said that the government will also need to seek the understanding of the bereaved families of the victims of the Cheonan sinking before lifting the sanctions.
Throughout the presidential campaign, Moon vowed to restore engagement with the North and play an active role in diplomatic efforts to curb its nuclear weapons program to restore strained inter-Korean relations.
Since his inauguration, his government has been moving to take a dual-track policy in dealing with the North, to pursue denuclearization and seek dialogue at the same time, a clear sign of shifting away from his two conservative predecessors’ hawkish approaches.