Yoon slams calls to abandon unification goal as ‘unconstitutional’

Sep 25, 2024, 09:56 am

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President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Sept. 24, 2024./ Source: Yonhap News

AsiaToday reporter Hong Sun-mi

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday denounced former presidential chief of staff Lim Jong-suk’s call to abandon unification with North Korea as “unconstitutional

Yoon made the remark during a Cabinet meeting. “The South Korean government has always advocated peaceful, free unification. We will continue to pursue peaceful, free unification,” Yoon said, dismissing the opponent politician’s alignment with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s characterization of the Koreas as two hostile countries.

“I can’t understand how those who have devoted their entire lives to the reunification movement and said reunification was their life’s goal, suddenly changed their stance when North Korea’s proposed the two-state theory,” Yoon said. “How can anyone understand those who once condemned others as anti-unification forces if they did not support their views making an abrupt pivot overnight? It is unconstitutional way of thinking,” he said.

“We will prepare a unified Korea where all individual freedom and human rights are respected and give dreams and hope to future generations,” he added.

The reason why Yoon re-stressed the “August 15 reunification doctrine” presented on this year’s National Liberation Day is due to former Chief of Staff Lim’s recent remark suggesting that South Korea abolish its unification ministry and accept the notion of two Korean states.

Yoon argued that the notion of two peaceful Korean states is unrealistic, given North Korea’s hostile stance and its ongoing nuclear threats against the South. “Abandoning the goal of reunification would only heighten tensions and confrontation between the two Koreas, leading to greater security concerns on the Korean Peninsula,” he said.

He reiterated the government’s commitment to achieving reunification based on liberal democracy, stressing the need for “true peace built on strong power and principles, not empty words and rhetoric.”

#Yoon Suk-yeol #reunification #Lim Jong-suk