Unification Minister on Moon's Memoir: "Believed Hitler, Leading to World War II"

Kim Young-ho Criticizes Moon Jae-in Memoir's Claim on Trust in North Korea
"Defectors Say They Wouldn't Have Decided to Defect Under Moon Government"

Minister of Unification Kim Young-ho criticized former President Moon Jae-in's memoir content, which expressed belief that North Korea had no intention of using nuclear weapons, saying it "could lead to a misjudgment of the situation." He compared it to the mistake of then British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who trusted Adolf Hitler's words that he would "no longer expand German territory" and signed the Munich Agreement, emphasizing that "evaluating based solely on the (other party's) intentions is not desirable when formulating national security policy."

At a press briefing held on the 20th at the Inter-Korean Relations Management Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Minister Kim was asked to evaluate former President Moon Jae-in's memoir content. He pointed out, "North Korea has the capability to threaten us with nuclear and missile development, and if we ignore that capability and focus only on their intentions, it could lead to a misjudgment of the situation."

Kim Young-ho, Minister of Unification, is speaking at a press briefing held on the 20th at the Inter-Korean Relations Management Team conference room in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Former President Moon stated in his memoir "From the Margins to the Center," published on the 17th, that "I believe Chairman Kim Jong-un's promise to denuclearize if there are reciprocal measures was sincere." He also introduced an anecdote from the inter-Korean summit held at Panmunjom in April 2018, where at the 'Dobodari' (Bridge of No Return), Chairman Kim reportedly said, "I can't let my three daughters live with a nuclear weapon on their heads," and that he had "no intention of using (nuclear weapons) at all."

Minister Kim said, "In 1983, (at the time of the Munich Agreement) British Prime Minister Chamberlain fully trusted Hitler's intentions, which can be seen as a representative appeasement policy," adding, "As a result, World War II broke out the following year in 1939." He continued, "If we fully believe North Korea's intentions, it will inevitably lead to very negative security outcomes," emphasizing, "That is why the Yoon Seok-yeol administration is determined to restrain North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities."

In particular, Minister Kim repeatedly criticized the Moon administration's North Korea policy, citing the testimony of a defector from a family that escaped via the East and West Seas last year, who said, "If South Korea were still under the Moon Jae-in government, I would not have decided to defect." He pointed out, "In November 2019, didn't the Moon administration forcibly deport two North Koreans who came to South Korea?" and added, "Listening to the testimony of defectors who came to South Korea last year clearly shows what the Moon administration's North Korea policy means to North Korean residents."

Kim Young-ho, Minister of Unification, is speaking at a press briefing held on the 20th at the Inter-Korean Relations Management Team conference room in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, at the briefing, Minister Kim revealed that after North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un proposed the two-state theory, designating the South as a 'hostile state,' North Korean authorities abolished the United Front Department. Although the United Front Department was reorganized into the '10th Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party,' the Ministry of Unification explained that its functions, such as psychological warfare against the South, continue unchanged.

A senior government official said, "We believe North Korea made some changes to certain functions while reorganizing the United Front Department," adding, "However, there is no change in the fundamental policy of subjugating South Korea."