Seoul, South Korea
CNN
—
North Korea is a “clear and present danger,” South Korea’s foreign minister told CNN in an exclusive interview.
Kim Jong-un’s frequent missile tests and repeated warnings about considering the use of tactical nuclear weapons are a sign of aggression and the only way to counter it is increased deterrence by the United States, Park said. Foreign Minister Jin said on Wednesday.
“What North Korea is doing is completely wrong,” Park said. “They are escalating nuclear and missile threats, threatening peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.”
Last week, North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. This can theoretically be used to attack almost anywhere in the world. It also tested a nuclear-capable long-range multiple-rocket launcher equivalent to a short-range ballistic missile. It can be a hit anywhere in Korea. These follow a record year for missile tests in 2022, in which North Korea conducted missile tests over her 37 days, all in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, according to CNN’s tally.
After the rockets were launched on Monday, Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, said the United States would halt military drills with South Korea and launch more missiles unless it threatens to turn the Pacific into “our firing range.” He warned that an experiment would be conducted.
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But Park suggested that such belligerence would only strengthen South Korea’s alliance with the United States.
“U.S. extended deterrence” is “the only method that can effectively protect Japan from North Korean aggression,” and strengthening its deterrence requires “effective deployment of U.S. strategic assets,” exercises and training. added that it would be necessary.
On the same day Park made her speech, guided-missile destroyers from both countries joined another Japanese missile destroyer in a ballistic missile defense exercise in waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula.
Park said there was little prospect of an early easing of tensions with North Korea, that no active negotiations were taking place, and that Kim would not voluntarily give up his nuclear weapons.
The North Korean leader must be made to understand that dialogue is his only option, Park said.
“We must create an environment in which North Korea has no choice but to return to the negotiating table,” he said.
Citing negotiation failures during the presidency of former President Donald Trump, Mr. Park said experience had shown Mr. Kim not to negotiate when he felt his opponent was weak.
“The lesson we have learned is that when we are strong…North Korea comes to the dialogue table. When we are weak, they seek to exploit that vulnerability. “We must be prepared to have a dialogue with North Korea,” he said.
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Park also said South Korea’s security challenges extend beyond the Korean Peninsula, including 1,000 miles south across the Taiwan Strait.
“Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is essential to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, and to the security and prosperity of the entire region,” Park said.
China’s ruling Communist Party has been putting pressure on Taiwan’s autonomous island for months. Although China has never ruled the island, it considers it part of its territory and Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ruled out the possibility of using force in a “reunification” with mainland China. repeatedly refused.
Park said it could have a “direct impact” on South Korea.
“We oppose unilateral changes to the status quo by force. In that sense, if something happens in the Taiwan Strait, we must maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” he said. He said.
