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| Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo speaks during a political event in Daejeon, April 17. / Yonhap |
By Park Ji-won
Main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) leader Hong Joon-pyo downplayed the upcoming April 27 inter-Korea summit as a "political show" that may only benefit North Korea, Monday.
"This is like negotiating with a thief with a knife who claims to be giving up the knife," Hong said on Facebook.
"If North Korea does not give up its nuclear weapons, any agreements between the two Koreas will only benefit the enemy."
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Hong also criticized the former liberal governments led by Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun for helping the North through "summit shows" while paying little attention to the risks of regime collapse in the North.
His remarks came four days before the inter-Korean summit which is scheduled to be held on April 27.
On Saturday, North Korea pledged to stop its nuclear and missile tests and said it was closing its nuclear test site ahead of its planned summits with the South and the U.S.
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