Dr. Siegfried Hecker's Recommendation of 'The Nuclear Inflection Point'
Former President Moon Jae-in criticized the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's North Korea policy on the 9th, stating that "the cancellation of agreements and suspension of dialogue have given North Korea time and promoted nuclear development."
Former President Moon Jae-in is delivering a greeting at the 5th anniversary ceremony of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration. [Photo by Joint Press Corps] [Image source=Yonhap News]
On the same day, former President Moon recommended Dr. Siegfried Hecker's book, The Nuclear Tipping Point, through social media (SNS), explaining, "This book empirically shows that at critical tipping points where the North Korean nuclear issue could have been resolved or at least contained through diplomacy, opportunities were repeatedly missed and the situation worsened due to excessively ideological political decisions rather than rational choices analyzing costs and benefits." This is interpreted as a rebuttal to the current administration's claim that inter-Korean dialogue and efforts for a declaration to end the war during the Moon Jae-in government promoted North Korea's nuclear development.
Former President Moon added, "Contrary to the claims of those opposing dialogue, it is not diplomacy and dialogue that gave North Korea time to advance its nuclear capabilities, but rather the cancellation of agreements and suspension of dialogue that have empirically given North Korea time and promoted nuclear development." He also stated, "We have now come to understand more detailed and accurate reasons beyond previous assumptions for the painful failure of the Hanoi North Korea-U.S. summit."
“Still Cold War Mentality” Direct Criticism
This is not the first time former President Moon has targeted the Yoon administration's North Korea policy. In July, he introduced the book The Power of Peace by former First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-geun, stating, "Peace must be combined with defense and diplomacy. In that regard, the Northern Policy of the Roh Tae-woo administration, which established diplomatic relations with communist countries and signed the Basic Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-aggression, and Exchanges and Cooperation with North Korea, was the most groundbreaking major shift and decision in our diplomatic history." He said, "The Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon Jae-in administrations inherited and developed that policy," adding, "During those times, inter-Korean relations improved, were relatively peaceful, and balanced diplomacy was also enhanced."
He continued, "The opposite happened under administrations that did not follow that path. Despite such clear contrasts, many people still cannot escape a Cold War mentality," and said, "I wonder how much different inter-Korean relations, security situations, and even the economy would have been if successive governments had consistently carried the baton in policies for peace."
At the '5th Anniversary of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration' event last September, he also said, "Thinking about the currently broken inter-Korean relations is deeply regrettable and distressing," and added, "While we must respond firmly to North Korea's provocations, on the other hand, we must exercise wisdom to prevent crises from escalating into conflict through sincere dialogue efforts."
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