Criticism of Park Sam-deuk, Director of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Mentioned Visiting the U.S.
Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper are taking a commemorative photo ahead of the ROK-U.S. Defense Ministers' Meeting on the 24th (local time) in Washington D.C., USA. On the 28th, the day after South Korea and the United States decided to indefinitely postpone the first half of the annual ROK-US joint military exercises scheduled for early next month, North Korea continued its usual criticism against the South.
On this day, North Korea's external propaganda outlet "Meari" published an article titled "The Disgusting Farce of Clinging to Pro-American Servility," claiming, "If the South Korean authorities persist in their pro-American servility and dependence on foreign forces, it will only result in bringing disgrace and disaster upon themselves."
The outlet referred to the visit of Park Sam-deuk, head of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, to the United States on the 14th, stating, "This is nothing but a disgusting farce by traitors who have literally staked their lives on pro-American servility."
Park and others had visited Washington DC to express gratitude for the sacrifices of Korean War veterans and delivered 2 billion won for the design of the Korean War Memorial Wall. They also discussed cooperation plans for the 70th anniversary of the Korean War with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary and visited veterans' hospitals to comfort war veterans.
The outlet criticized these actions, emphasizing, "The South Korean authorities’ behavior of traveling across the ocean to serve with taxpayers’ money is yet another clown show that only those soaked in a servile mindset toward America can stage, provoking the rising anger of the entire Korean nation."
In another article titled "The U.S. Malice Seen Through the Issue of Wartime Operational Control (OPCON) Transfer," Meari targeted the United States.
The outlet claimed, "The U.S. is making it a condition for the transfer of wartime operational control that South Korea must have the capability to wage war against North Korea independently," adding, "In other words, South Korea must purchase a massive amount of weapons from the U.S. to enhance its warfighting capability."
It continued, "If so, the U.S. is reselling the wartime operational control, which it handed over for free in the 1950s, at an enormous price 70 years later," raising its voice, "This is a shocking business scheme that only the U.S. could conceive and carry out."
Furthermore, it stated, "The bigger problem is that the U.S. is not truly willing to relinquish command authority over the South Korean military," explaining, "Currently, the U.S. is significantly strengthening the function of the United Nations Command, which had become a nominal and ineffective entity, to exercise practical control over the South Korean military." It also claimed, "On the other hand, by relocating the 'ROK-US Combined Forces Command' to the U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, they are trying to keep the South Korean military within their sight and control."
Meanwhile, on the 27th, Kim Jun-rak, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Lee Peters, U.S. spokesperson for the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, jointly announced at the Ministry of National Defense, "As the South Korean government has raised the COVID-19 crisis level to 'serious,' it has been decided to postpone the first half of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command’s joint field training until further notice."
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