Photo: Kim Min-Hee/AFP
Eurasia
16/08/2024 17:08
In a speech Thursday to mark end of Japanese colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula in 1945, Yoon called unification an “unfinished task,” which he aims to pursue on a freedom-based path, Bloomberg reported.
“Only by firmly defending our freedom can we become the leading force driving free and democratic unification,” Yoon said. He also pledged to raise awareness about human rights abuses in North Korea, which has bristled for years at criticism of its rights record.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un started the year with a strident tone by eliminating the concept of peaceful unification from his state’s national policy and abolishing laws for economic cooperation with South Korea, driving a wedge deeper between the neighbors.
But Yoon reiterated he could offer rewards for moves to roll back Kim’s atomic ambitions, saying “we will begin political and economic cooperation the moment North Korea takes just one step toward denuclearization.”
He also proposed setting up a so-called Inter-Korean Working Group that could take up issues ranging from relieving tensions to economic cooperation. “Even though the North Korean regime rejected our offer yet again, we will never stop making offers of humanitarian aid,” Yoon said.
