Moon urged to play hardball for denuclearization

A TV crew sets up equipment for broadcasting at the media center for the upcoming inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, which opened at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, Sunday. / Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

Opposition parties have called on President Moon Jae-in to receive “specific and definite” answers from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over the latter's timeline for denuclearization during their meeting in Pyongyang this week.

With the Pyongyang summit starting Tuesday, the opposition parties urged President Moon to avoid unilaterally lifting sanctions on the North unilaterally and to take steps for peace in accordance with the country's denuclearization.

“The development of inter-Korean relations should be in line with the speed of the North's denuclearization,” Rep. Yoon Young-seok, senior spokesman for the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), said Sunday.

“The agenda for the third inter-Korean summit this year should be the North's denuclearization. If the President seeks to speed up easing sanctions without any progress on denuclearization here, the step is nothing more than an obstacle for the nuclear disarmament of the regime.”

The remark came on reflection of the unpredictable nature of the regime. Inter-Korean relations have for decades had unstable ups and downs, and for this reason, critics have argued that the government should not be deceived by the North's peace gestures this time, unless it takes appropriate and verifiable steps for denuclearization.

“The President should return after receiving the North's clear answers that it will abolish nuclear weapons, materials, facilities and programs,” Yoon said.

A rash lifting of sanctions against the North could even lead to a possible crack in the Seoul-Washington alliance, so the South should not be in a hurry to satisfy the North's demands, including the declaration of the end to the 1950-53 Korean War, the lawmaker said.

He also raised a skeptical voice against the South's ongoing move to ease military tension against the North.

The alleviation of tension is necessary, but the step should be jointly taken carefully, he said.

President Moon is expected to sign what is called a “comprehensive military agreement” during the summit. This is a follow-up measure to the April 27 Panmunjeom Declaration in which the two leaders agreed to put an end to any military provocations on the peninsula.

The genda for the agreement will include disarmament in the Joint Security Area at the inter-Korean border village and the repatriation of war remains.

The minor opposition Bareunmirae Party criticized Moon for his plan to bring leaders of the nation's conglomerates to the Pyongyang summit.

“We doubt the plan at a time when the international economic sanctions against the North are ongoing and the regime's nuclear issue has not been resolved,” party spokeswoman Kim Jeong-hwa said.

The party demanded Moon focus on speeding up denuclearization of the regime without linking businesspeople to political issues.

“The government needs to concentrate on moving up the timeline for the North's denuclearization, and corporations should do their best to enhance business competitiveness,” she said. “Businesspeople should no longer fall victim to any political events.”