Professor Kim, Hak-sung (Kangwon National University)
The Moon Jae-in administration’s security policy inherited and developed upon Kim Dae-jung’s “Sunshine Policy”, which is based on nationalism and ideocracy. He attempted to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue by relying solely on diplomacy and clung to unilateral support for North Korea while emphasizing inter-Korean cooperation.
It can be said that [the Sunshine Policy] is a meaningful policy because it’s not the cold wind but the warm sunshine that could remove the opponent’s armor. However, the reality was that the theory was so lacking and went against the trend of the international community without any substance. Inter-Korean relations are now determined by the North Korean leadership and have become shabby at best, with South Korea just waiting for North Korea to make the first move.
Policies that prioritize ethnicity should be wary as they can lead to nationalist fascism. Since South Korea’s Constitution orders unification based on liberal democracy, not unification prioritizing ethnicity, it would be against the Constitution to put ethnicity before value. It is necessary to once again take the lead in inter-Korean relations while reaffirming the identity of the Republic of Korea.
The Moon administration’s foreign policy often advocated for diplomacy, but it is a pro-China, anti-American foreign policy. Diplomacy should be based on pragmatism, but it was too often biased toward securing autonomic routes, and such pretentious diplomacy isolated the Republic of Korea. The Moon administration turned a blind eye to North Korea’s oppression of human rights and pretended not to see North Korea’s violence, causing the international community to stigmatize South Korea as a country that ignores human rights. The administration also failed by taking an overly complacent and optimistic approach to the North Korean nuclear issue.
The Moon administration shook the ROK-U.S. alliance, which has been the foundation for peace and prosperity for 70 years in Korea. We have seen firsthand that peace with no strength cannot protect the people. We have seen it in the past with Vietnam and Afghanistan, and now in Ukraine.
Various past agreements signed by Ukraine have been turned into scraps of paper, yet Moon Jae-in still talks about peace and that an end-of-war agreement is needed for the Korean peninsula. The Moon administration wants to make concessions for peace, but after conceding, surrender awaits, and once we surrender, the current hell that Ukraine is going through will be waiting for us.
This unconditional policy of accommodating the North Korean regime, which has no principles, must essentially change. It is necessary to reinforce the ROK-U.S. alliance, as well as the diversification of national security and diplomacy. It is also necessary to strengthen the position of responsible members of the international community while promoting international cooperation. The international community does not allow for one to stand alone.
Original article: https://www.jayupress.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=3075
