Song Young-gil: "Can We Really Persuade North Korea to Denuclearize While Maintaining Sanctions?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Song Young-gil, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, argued, "Can we really persuade denuclearization by maintaining sanctions against North Korea?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 5th, Song stated on Facebook, "At a time when North Korea has declared that it will halt additional nuclear tests and ICBM launches, abandon the nuclear-economy parallel development line, and shift to an economic-focused line."

He said, "North Korea is currently under about 10 UN Security Council resolution sanctions. In particular, the last 'UN Resolution 2397' is an unprecedentedly strong sanction in UN history," adding, "Even the smuggling trade at the border, which existed to some extent, has mostly been blocked recently due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)."

Song continued, "It is literally suffocating regulation for North Korea," and criticized, "Is it such a big problem to compare this situation to George Floyd?"

Regarding the controversy over his remark about the demolition of North Korea's Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office, saying "Where else would you blow up a prisoner?" he pointed out, "It is a poor-quality article filled with provocative headlines."

He said, "My secretary recently had a traffic accident and broke ribs and a clavicle. When I heard that he wore a helmet and did not hurt his head, I said 'That's a relief.' Does that mean I was glad about the broken ribs?" He emphasized, "I clearly stated that the demolition of North Korea's Inter-Korean Liaison Office is an unacceptable act, but the media's behavior of ignoring the context?how can that help solve the current situation?"