Opinions mixed over foreign policy adviser to Moon Jae-in

He said rights things about US alliance, some liberals claim

By Yi Whan-woo

Moon Chung-in, a foreign policy adviser to President Moon Jae-in, became an instant target of criticism after expressing controversial opinions on the Seoul-Washington alliance at a seminar in Washington D.C. last week.

While he is generally being described as a “party pooper” by conservative politicians and the media ahead of the crucial summit between Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump, some came to his defense, claiming he said all the right things.

Some liberal politicians and experts said Moon just proposed a realistic approach in developing the decades-old alliance in the face of a nuclear North Korea.

The adviser claimed the allies should consider scaling down the joint military exercises and the dispatch of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula if North Korea stops nuclear provocations.

Commenting on the Moon government’s decision to suspend the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, the adviser also said it could no longer be considered an alliance if the Seoul-Washington ties are disrupted by this.

“Being blindly obedient to the U.S. is not about the alliance,” minor opposition Justice Party floor leader Rep. Roh Hoe-chan said during a radio interview, Tuesday.

“Moreover, we should begin to think of possible options we can offer as carrots to North Korea when we ask Pyongyang to stop firing ballistic missiles or scrap the nuclear program.

“In that sense, Moon’s proposal can be used unofficially as a card to convince North Korea,” he added.

The lawmaker also pointed out that the presidential adviser underscored the offer as his own opinion during a seminar at Wilson Center in Washington D.C.

“For the U.S. side, it may direct a complaint to the South Korean government over the issues raised by Moon Chung-in. But let me be clear, those were his own thoughts, nothing else.”

In a separate radio interview, Monday, Rep. Hong Ik-pyo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea agreed with Moon by saying, “His words should be clarified as normalizing the joint military exercises, not scaling down the joint military exercises.”

Hong cited that U.S. nuclear strategic assets have been deployed to South Korea only since 2010 when North Korea shelled Yeongpyeong Island and escalated the heightened tension on the peninsula.

Rep. Kim Jong-dae, also from the Justice Party, finds it regretful that the conservatives, including the press, are stirring up a controversy on a possible rift between the two allies.

“Whenever issues on North Korea were raised in Seoul, it has been numerously underscored that the government will sufficiently consult the U.S. over the issues,” he said. “Considering this, Moon’s comment is not a problem at all because he repeatedly said scaling down joint military exercises only should be made in consultation with the U.S. The conservatives still bombard him as if the alliance can be disrupted because of him.”

Meanwhile, Moon, who is visiting the U.S. through Wednesday, held onto his rhetoric, Tuesday.

“We have our own law and our own president. The U.S. view on South Korea cannot be above our law,” he said. “The key issues at the Seoul-Washington summit will be about bolstering the alliance but there can be differences over resuming dialogue with North Korea.”