[VOTE] Moon advocates realistic and independent foreign policy

By Park Sae-jin Posted : May 9, 2017, 20:45 Updated : May 9, 2017, 20:45

[Press Corps]


Moon Jae-in has unveiled a policy of engaging in realistic and independent diplomacy that emphasizes national interests and South Korea's initiative to prevent war on the Korean peninsula.

Under his foreign policy titled "diplomacy of cooperation with priority on national interests", he suggests South Korea should bolster traditional ties with the United States while trying to restore strained relations with China.

In his election pledge, he proposed an early summit meeting between Chinese and South Korean leaders to further "strategic cooperation and partnership" between the two countries.

However, he urged Beijing to focus on reigning in North Korea instead of bashing South Korea over the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. He has already expressed his willingness to use the US missile shield as a "diplomatic card" saying it could be up for negotiations at the next South Korean government.

Denuclearization should be realized in a "gradual and comprehensive" way through the combination of dialogue and pressure, Moon said, supporting multilateral and bilateral negotiations on curbing North Korea's nuclear development.

He advocates the early resumption of stalled cross-border exchanges and dialogue, but he warned North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would go to the road of "self-destruction" unless he stops provocations.

Citing a nuclear freeze as an essential precondition, he proposed a "comprehensive, gradual and simultaneous" settlement of such key issues as denuclearization, a peace accord and diplomatic normalization between Pyongyang and Washington.

He portrays himself as a national leader better fitted for crisis management and supports an increase in defense spending to build an independent missile defense system and strengthen South Korea's war capability and deterrence against North Korea.

Yet, Moon promised to reopen an inter-Korean industrial zone in North Korea's border city of Kaesong, which was shut down by conservative ex-president Park Geun-hye last year in retaliation for the North's ballistic missile and nuclear tests. 

The Kaesong complex, a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation and reconciliation, was considered a rare legitimate source of hard currency for the impoverished North which earned more than $100 million annually in wages earned by 54,000 workers. In closing the zone, Seoul accused Pyongyang of diverting income earned in the zone to leader's luxury life or weapons development.

Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com

 
기사 이미지 확대 보기
닫기