“Still a Cold War mindset,” Moon Jae-in criticizes the Yoon Suk-yeol government’s stance on North Korea policies

Former President Moon Jae-in. Captured on Facebook

On July 3, former President Moon Jae-in said, “There are many people who still cannot escape from a Cold War mindset,” and criticized the direction of policies on North Korea promoted by the Yoon Suk-yeol government and conservative groups.

On Monday, the former president made the comment on social media while introducing The Power of Peace, a newly released book by Choi Jong-kun, the former first vice minister of foreign affairs. Former President Moon said, “There is no country as desperate for peace as us, who have experienced war as a divided country,” and argued, “For peace, we must put together national defense and foreign relations.”

The former president continued and said, “In that respect, the North Korea policies of the Roh Tae-woo government, which established ties with communist countries and signed the Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-aggression and Exchanges and Cooperation between the South and the North, was the most ground-breaking major shift and resolution in the history of our foreign relations.” He stated, “The Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in governments succeeded and developed those policies.” He also argued, “Inter-Korean relations developed in those times and was relatively peaceful, and we were also able to promote more balanced foreign relations,” and said, “It was also during these times that the country’s per capita income surpassed $20,000 and $30,000.”

Moon Jae-in mentioned that the opposite happened in governments that failed to implement such policies and said, “Inter-Korean relations regressed, peace was threatened, and even the nation’s per capita income remained stagnant or dropped.” He said, “The results are in such stark contrast, yet there are many people who still cannot escape from a Cold War mindset.” He also shared his thoughts saying, “If the previous governments ran a relay, consistently promoting policies for peace, I wonder how much inter-Korean relations, our security situation and even our economy could have been different.”

The former president posted his comment after President Yoon Suk-yeol recently referred to the Moon Jae-in government as an “anti-state power” and criticized the previous government’s policies on North Korea and after he appointed Kim Yung-ho, a professor of Sungshin Women’s University with a far-right tendency as minister of unification and explained the role of the unification ministry saying, “It is not a ministry providing aid to North Korea.” The post seems to have targeted President Yoon’s policies on North Korea and his understanding of the role of the unification ministry.