This article was originally posted on Jayu Press and translated by OKN Correspondent.
As the Blue House is putting the brakes on President-elect Yoon Seok-youl’s plan to relocate the presidential office to Yongsan using “security vacuum” as an excuse, there is criticism over President Moon Jae-in, who caused the actual security collapse, is hampering the incoming government as his term is coming to an end.
At a Cabinet meeting held at the Blue House on March 22, President Moon said, “There should be not even a small vacuum in state affairs, especially when it comes to national security, the people’s economy, and public safety. It is time for our military to maintain its best security readiness. There shouldn’t be a small source of instability when it comes to security.” These remarks are interpreted as an aim at Yoon, who is planning to move the presidential office to the Defense Ministry compound in Yongsan.
However, looking back on the past, it makes no sense for the incumbent administration to bring up security issues when they have not responded much not only to the series of missile provocations from North Korea but also to their unilateral bombing of the inter-Korean joint liaison office.
This year alone, North Korea has launched a total of 11 armed provocations, including multiple rocket launchers (MRL). After every provocation, the National Security Council (NSC) was convened, but President Moon only attended once. In other words, the president—the commander-in-chief—has consistently “neglected” to respond to these North Korean armed provocations. He attended the NSC for the second time on March 21, 2022, to discuss pending issues related to the relocation of the presidential office.
On June 16, 2020, the NSC was convened when North Korea unilaterally blew up the inter-Korean joint liaison office. However, President Moon did not attend and Chung Eui-yong, then-Director of National Security, presided over the meeting. The day after the [office was] demolished, the Blue House stated on June 17, 2020, that blowing up the joint liaison office based on Yoon Do-han, senior presidential secretary for public communication, condemning Kim Yo-jong’s arbitrary offer to dispatch envoys, fundamentally undermines the trust between the two Koreas. Other than that, there’s been no firm response from President Moon since.
Despite the current administration holding three inter-Korean summits and refraining from making any aggressive statements against North Korea, inter-Korean relations have worsened since the Park Geun-hye administration. That is why Yoon and the People Power Party (PPP) are arguing that [the Blue House’s] opposition to the relocation of the presidential office on the grounds of a “security vacuum” is nothing more than an “opposition for the opposition.”
National Assemblyman Seong Il-jong of the National Assembly Defense Committee said, “Moon Jae-in’s Blue House and the Democratic Party of Korea (DP) are systematically obstructing the incoming government like cogwheels. What is the intention of this administration, which has been trying to appease North Korea for the past five years, using 49.6 billion won as an excuse to prevent the relocation of the presidential office from being submitted to the Cabinet? Don’t tie up the start of the new government with ridiculous complaints.”
Heo Eun-ah, the chief spokesperson for the PPP, also criticized in a commentary, saying, “What shame does this president have, who did not even convene the NSC during this administration, to even mention security vacuum when it has not kept his promise he made to the people five years ago?”
Heo said, “I don’t believe this administration, which has never called it a provocation despite repeated missile threats from North Korea since the start of the new year, did not even receive an apology for blowing up the inter-Korean liaison office invested by taxpayers’ money, was silent even after hearing all kinds of insulting remarks from North Korea, should not be speaking out [on this issue].”
Meanwhile, President-elect Yoon plans to start his duties from the Tongui-dong office (of the PPP) immediately after the inauguration if the Blue House continues to refuse to cooperate with the plans to relocate the presidential office. Some predict that it will take time for the meeting between President Moon and President-elect Yoon to take place as the transition between the two administrations has been strained in the wake of the NSC meeting on the 21st.
Asked if President Moon and President-elect Yoon could meet this week, Park Soo-hyun, Moon’s senior aide for public relations, said, “Of course, that should be the case and we are making efforts [to make that happen].”
To read the original article in Korean, please click here.
