Park Ji-won: "Kim Jong-il Also Wanted US Troops in South Korea... 'US Troop Withdrawal' Is for Domestic Politics"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Former U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo revealed in his autobiography that Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, wants the U.S. Forces Korea to remain stationed on the Korean Peninsula. In relation to this, Park Ji-won, former National Intelligence Service (NIS) director who served as a 'special envoy to North Korea' during the Kim Dae-jung administration, stated that "Kim Jong-il, Chairman of the National Defense Commission, shared the same view."

On the 26th, former NIS director Park said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show', "Kim Jong-un deeply distrusts China and wants the U.S. Forces Korea to remain stationed on the Korean Peninsula. This is the same statement that Kim Jong-il made to President Kim Dae-jung during the June 15, 2000 inter-Korean summit," he said.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "It is exactly the same. I heard it firsthand at the time. Kim Jong-il said, 'For the balance of power in Northeast Asia, even if the Korean Peninsula is unified, the U.S. Forces Korea must remain stationed here,' expressing strong distrust toward China, Russia, and Japan," and continued, "especially, his distrust of China was very high."

Former NIS director Park also said, "President Kim Dae-jung asked, 'Then why do you always talk about the withdrawal of U.S. troops?' to which Kim Jong-il smiled wryly and replied, 'That is for domestic political purposes,'" explaining that North Korea's 'distrust of China' is longstanding.

Park further explained, "Because this is so important, two months after the June 15 summit, on August 15, when I was going up with the heads of media companies, President Kim Dae-jung told me, 'Ask again, this is very important.' So I asked Kim Jong-il, 'What do you think about the U.S. Forces Korea's stationing on the Korean Peninsula?' and he gave the same answer."

According to former NIS director Park, this is because the 'legacy politics' continues to be carried on. He said, "Kim Il-sung gave a legacy which Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un are both carrying out. One very impressive thing Kim Jong-il said was, 'Kim Il-sung gave two legacies: first and foremost, the United States. Establish diplomatic relations with the U.S. to secure regime security. Secondly, achieve economic development through the lifting of U.S. economic sanctions.'" He added, "From this, I believe that all of General Secretary Kim's policies are still executing the legacies received from Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il."

The reason for distrusting China and trusting the U.S. is due to China's 'territorial ambitions.' Former NIS director Park said, "Kim Jong-il said, 'China, Russia, and Japan, as neighboring countries, have always tried to annex our territory and take over our Korea. However, the U.S., geographically and historically, has no history of invading other countries to seize territory. Therefore, we absolutely need the U.S. military presence,'" and added, "he strongly expressed distrust toward China, Russia, and Japan, stating that these three countries are always looking for opportunities to annex Korean Peninsula territory."

Former NIS director Park said that the contents of the book by former Secretary Pompeo are 'quite accurate' and shared an anecdote about his past conversations with him. He said, "I met Secretary Pompeo when I was the NIS director. I told him, 'Pompeo, you have met Kim Jong-un the longest among the Western world, and I have talked with Kim Jong-il the longest. Let's compare the personalities of the father and son.' When we discussed, they were the same."

Pompeo's autobiography also contains a statement that during the 2019 North Korea-U.S. summit, Kim Jong-un expressed that he did not want then-President Moon Jae-in to attend. Former director Park said, "North Korea always has such an attitude," and "North Korea's nuclear issue is not a matter between the two Koreas or between North Korea and China, but a matter between North Korea and the U.S. Therefore, North Korea wants to deal directly with the U.S. and does not want to go through South Korea."

He then emphasized, "But who made the historic North Korea-U.S. summit happen? Wasn't it President Moon Jae-in?" and added, "North Korea's attitude has been like this in the past and remains so now."