Lee Jae-myung Mentioned at Event... Jung Se-hyun: "North Korea Clarifies 'Two Koreas' Through Workers' Party Charter Revision"
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Former Minister of Unification Lee Jong-seok argued on the 15th for the need to suspend the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, stating, "To make the other side give up their nuclear weapons, we must also give up parts of ourselves."
At a special forum commemorating the 21st anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration hosted by the Democratic Peace Plaza at the Baekbeom Memorial Hall that day, former Minister Lee said, "Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, said at the party congress this January that 'we must not neglect the poor state of inter-Korean relations.'"
The Democratic Peace Plaza is the nationwide organization of Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, the ruling party's top presidential candidate, and former Minister Lee serves as a co-representative.
Former Minister Lee emphasized, "The suspension of the South Korea-U.S. military exercises presupposes that North Korea is halting nuclear tests and long-range missile launches," adding, "Strategic choice and focus are necessary on the important path toward peace on the Korean Peninsula. A strategic decision must be made."
Former Minister of Unification Jeong Se-hyun, who is supporting Governor Lee from the sidelines, agreed, saying, "The suspension of the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises must be clearly explained and announced," and added, "North Korea has said more than once that it will not come to the negotiation table unless the U.S. withdraws its hostile policy toward North Korea."
Former Minister Jeong said, "If the suspension of this year's South Korea-U.S. exercises is clearly stated, the Moon Jae-in administration can recreate a situation like the 'Spring of the Korean Peninsula' in 2018 during the remaining 10 months."
Meanwhile, former Minister Jeong commented on North Korea's revision of the Workers' Party charter in January, which removed the phrase "carrying out the tasks of the national liberation democratic revolution on a nationwide scale" related to unification, saying, "They removed the talk of communist unification," and predicted, "(North Korea) has officially clarified 'two Koreas' and will work to develop inter-Korean relations."
In this regard, former Minister Lee also evaluated, "The removal of the clause about southern communist unification from the party charter does not mean they do not want to realize communism on the Korean Peninsula, but rather that they acknowledge it is not possible."
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