Disturbing news comes as end-of-war text allegedly agreed on by Seoul, Washington
The South Korean Ministry of Unification made and distributed 2022 calendars that include North Korean holidays. The conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP) asked, “Which country is the ministry representing?” and urged it to recall all calendars that it distributed and to apologize. The ministry argued that the calendar was aimed at helping its employees do their job by being familiar with North Korean holidays.
The calendar made by the Unification Ministry marked two days as holidays in February. One was February 8, which is “the North Korean People’s Army Establishment Day.” On February 16, it said “North Korea, Kim Jong-Il’s birthday.” Kim Jong-il is the father of current North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. In February’s calendar, it included many other descriptions such as “North Korea declares that it acquired nuclear weapons,” and “North Korea’s 3rd nuclear test.” These are events that directly threaten the security of South Korea.
North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung’s birthday, April 15, is also marked. His grandson Kim Jong-un’s birthday, January 8, is also marked in the calendar. The ministry also marked September 9 as the “Establishment of North Korea.”
Hwang Gyu-hwan, a spokesperson of the PPP, said that “[the Moon administration] unilaterally aided North Korea while getting nothing in return, and now they want to celebrate their holidays.” He added, “When I see the Unification Ministry’s commemoration of North Korean holidays, I wonder which country this is.”
“The current administration had enough of North Korea already for the past four years, but it failed to have a clear understanding of North Korea,” Hwang said. “This is the evidence that the current administration is unable to get out of its fantasy of North Korea.”
The Unification Ministry released a statement as stories about the unpatriotic calendar began surfacing in the media. It said, “The calendar is not for the public and was for our employees.” The ministry said it made the calendar to help its employees do their work, as these dates are things that employees need to plan for when they do their job.
The ministry also sent the calendars to members of the National Assembly. The ministry said that it sent them to aides of the members of the foreign affairs committee to help with their work.
There is also news on the Moon administration’s plan to declare an end to the Korean War. South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said that “regarding the end-of-war declaration, South Korea and the United States have already shared the understanding on its importance, and the two sides have effectively reached an agreement on its draft text,” on Wednesday. “However, we are considering various ways on how to advance discussions with North Korea.”
When asked how the discussions with the United States went on North Korea’s prerequisites for talks on the issue, Chung did not directly answer the question, but reiterated the Biden administration’s position that Washington is willing to speak with North Korea “anytime, anywhere, without preconditions.”
“Please understand that it is difficult to share the details of how the end-of-war declaration is currently being promoted externally at this stage,” Chung said.
The U.S. Department of State told the Voice of America, “The United States remains committed to achieving lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy with the DPRK. To this end, we will continue to seek engagement with the DPRK as part of a calibrated, practical approach in order to make tangible progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies, and our deployed forces.”
