Opposition lawmakers criticize Moon's Time interview

Yoo Seong-min of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), a former four-term lawmaker and a former presidential candidate in the 2017 election, looks at a memorial of the war dead during his visit to the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan District, Seoul, on Friday, the 71st anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War, in this photo provided by Yoo's office. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

Members of the country's conservative opposition bloc have criticized President Moon Jae-in's recent interview with Time magazine, taking issue with Moon's description of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un as honest, enthusiastic and determined, as well as the timing of the article's publication on Thursday, the day before the 71st anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Yoo Seong-min of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), a former four-term lawmaker and former presidential candidate in the 2017 election, posted on Facebook Thursday that Moon's courting of Kim is delusional and upsets South Korean people, especially considering North Korea has issued a series of statements mocking Moon and his peace efforts.

“Who is Kim Jong-un's honesty, passion and determination for? Is it for North Korean people? Is it for South Korean people? Or is it for North Korea's nuclear missiles?” Yoo said. “The appearance of the President being swayed at Kim Jong-un despite so many humiliations is frustrating as a South Korean citizen.”

Yoo said inter-Korean relations have deteriorated in recent years despite Moon's diplomatic gestures toward Kim. “Now, after four years of spectacular shows of dialogue with the North, North Korea's nuclear missiles have become a real threat, the Gaeseong liaison office has been blown up by the North and a South Korean government official has been shot and burned by the North,” Yoo said.

Other PPP members also criticized Moon's words.

Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, floor leader of the PPP, said during a party meeting held Friday that no matter how much Moon praises the North Korean leader, the facts do not change that Kim Jong-un is a brutal dictator who publicly executed his uncle Jang Song-thaek and had his half-brother Kim Jong-nam assassinated in order to maintain power.

Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, front row second from right, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party, and other PPP members pay a silent tribute to patriotic martyrs who died during the 1950-53 Korean War, during a party meeting held at the National Assembly in Seoul on Friday, the 71st anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun

The main opposition party has also criticized the timing of the interview's publication on June 24, the day before the 71st anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.

“To talk about the leader of North Korea, the culprit of the war that caused millions of casualties, just a day before June 25, as if the North Korean leader were a wise king, is like hammering a nail into the hearts of the patriotic martyrs of the country and their bereaved families and descendants,” Rep. Hwangbo Seung-hee, a spokesperson of the PPP, said in a commentary.