Cheong "Declaration of the End of War is to Move the Minute and Second Hands of the Peace Clock"

"Dialogue has stopped and time is slipping away helplessly"
"Reaffirming the will for peace through a declaration of the end of the war"

President Moon Jae-in is delivering a video keynote speech at the 75th United Nations General Assembly held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA, on the 22nd (local time).

Regarding the background of President Moon Jae-in's repeated mention of the Korean Peninsula end-of-war declaration in his keynote speech at the 75th United Nations General Assembly, the Blue House stated on the 23rd, "The speech message of a political leader is an expression of will and conviction," adding, "It is to move the peace clock of the Korean Peninsula, which is stuck in a deadlock, by moving the minute and second hands."

A senior Blue House official said to reporters on the same day, "Our government's consistent position and the agreement in the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration is to move from a state of war suspension and unstable armistice system to a solid peace regime," emphasizing this point.

The official added, "President Moon appealed to the international community for support regarding the Korean Peninsula end-of-war declaration through his UN keynote speech," and stressed, "The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and peace on the Korean Peninsula, as stated by the President, are our values, vision, and the path we must take."

He continued, "Dialogue has been halted and time is passing helplessly," adding, "The end-of-war declaration confirmed a new will for peace."

Meanwhile, criticism has arisen that President Moon's message about the end-of-war declaration lacks realism, and concerns have been raised that it could send the wrong signal to North Korea.

Professor Kim Geun-sik of Gyeongnam National University argued on his Facebook, "The end-of-war declaration could have been a card for denuclearization before North Korea became a nuclear-armed state," but "now that North Korea has already become a nuclear-armed state, it might rather be a misstep that condones nuclear possession."

He pointed out that the end-of-war declaration proposed at the 2007 inter-Korean summit during the Roh Moo-hyun administration could have been a valid approach, but at the point when North Korea already possessed nuclear weapons, President Moon's proposal for the end-of-war declaration is out of order.

Professor Kim said, "The Roh Moo-hyun administration's end-of-war declaration aimed to have related countries' leaders declare the end of the war first, since a peace agreement was difficult at the time, to induce North Korea to give up nuclear development," adding, "North Korea had just conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 but was not yet a nuclear-armed state."

He continued, "However, now that North Korea has declared the completion of its nuclear force in 2017 and has secured and deployed nuclear bombs and long-range missiles, it is effectively a nuclear-armed state, and the current end-of-war declaration becomes the worst card that condones nuclear weapons rather than denuclearization."

Professor Kim emphasized, "Giving a signal of a peace regime and providing a foundation for peaceful coexistence to Kim Jong-un, who possesses nuclear bombs, essentially guarantees peace with nuclear weapons," and stated, "Changed realities require changed approaches."