Comments echo Pyongyang’s propaganda
Hong Hyun-ik, chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, which trains diplomats and other public servants on international affairs, appeared to have blamed the United States for North Korea’s latest missile tests. This is raising questions about the lengths to which the Moon administration’s political appointees will provoke South Korea’s closest security ally—the United States.
Hong, who was appointed to the vice-ministerial position in August by President Moon Jae-in, argued on October 25 at a forum held by the Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul that “the United States should show tolerance by overlooking North Korea’s short-range missile launches as former President Donald Trump did.” It is very rare for a high-ranking diplomatic official to publicly censure the United States, which is South Korea’s key ally, for the stalemate over North Korea while apparently defending Pyongyang.
“Now is the time to reduce sanctions, rather than strengthening them, and give an opportunity to North Korea,” Hong said. He argued multiple times that sanctions are not as effective as people believe they are. “There are measures such as the so-called ‘snapback’ so that we can impose sanctions against Pyongyang again if they fail to keep their promise,” he added. “Why is the United States so hesitant about reducing sanctions?”
Hong continued that the United States is misusing its sanctions policy as a punishment. “I think the United States is using sanctions to punish North Korea for its past nuclear and missile tests, and we should reduce sanctions instead to resolve the North Korean problem.”
Hong also said he is concerned about whether the United States sincerely wants to solve the North Korea issue. “North Korea’s logic is that they need to have nuclear weapons to protect its regime against hostile policies such as sanctions,” he said. “Sanctions against North Korea are used by Pyongyang to argue that they have a legitimate reason to have nuclear weapons, and I think the United States’ sincerity in solving the North Korea issue is weak.”
Hong made additional problematic comments, arguing that the international community should tolerate North Korea’s short-range missile launches. The reason he gave was that South Korea is also developing cruise missiles with a range of over 1,000 kilometers. He does not seem to understand that United Nations resolutions ban all North Korean ballistic missiles due to its reckless behavior such as illegal nuclear weapons tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launches.
Hong’s comment was similar to the arguments of North Korea, which criticize the international community for using a double standard. Pyongyang has been maintaining that it is unfair for the international community to allow South Korean missile programs while banning theirs. It is troubling for the head of the institution that trains South Korean diplomats to use North Korea’s rhetoric.
Sanctions against North Korea were strengthened around 2016 and 2017 due to Pyongyang’s repeated nuclear and missile provocations. The international community imposed sanctions to cut off funds going to the Kim Jong-un regime so that it cannot misuse money to develop nuclear and missile programs. At that time, even Russia and China agreed on imposing a set of sanctions against North Korea.
This was not the first time that Hong made controversial comments about North Korea issue. At a National Assembly’s session on October 21, he also argued against making an issue out of North Korea’s recent launch of submarine-launched ballistic missiles. “If it does not pose a significant impact on the national security of the Korean Peninsula, I think making too much (of an) issue out of it would not help the peace-making process,” he said. “We need to worry about North Korean missiles at the time to defend peace, but now is the time to make peace.” His comment was interpreted as meaning that the international community should not make an issue of North Korea’s recent missile launches, since this is the time to make peace on the Korean Peninsula – and the problem of North Korean missiles can be resolved ‘later.’
In August, he appeared on a radio program and argued that “the South Korean economy is 53 times bigger than that of North Korea so we do not have to do joint military exercises with the United States.”
Hong also argued that the South Korean government should inform North Korea about the details of the joint military exercises, which are a state secret of the second-highest degree.
“There is a part [of the exercises] where we would take preemptive attack against North Korea when a North Korean nuclear attack is thought to be imminent,” he said. “We would attack hundreds of places, and in North Korea’s perspective, they will think that they are being attacked. There are cases where they would do decapitation exercises, which North Korea hates the most. Even if we conduct joint military exercises this time, we should indirectly tell them that we are not doing such exercises.”
Hong’s priority appears to be keeping North Korea well-armed and well-informed while insulting the key security partner South Korea needs for its self-defense.
