Seoul, South Korea
Act Daily News
—
North Korea is a “clear and present danger,” the overseas minister of South Korea has advised Act Daily News in an unique interview.
Kim Jong Un’s frequent missile exams and repeated warnings that he would think about using tactical nuclear weapons had been a show of aggression and the one method to counter this was by prolonged US deterrence, Foreign Minister Park Jin mentioned on Wednesday.
“What North Korea is doing is completely wrong,” Park mentioned. “They have been escalating nuclear and missile threats, and threatening the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.”
In simply the previous week, North Korea has examined an intercontinental ballistic missile, which in idea might be used to strike virtually anyplace on the planet, and nuclear-capable long-range a number of rocket launchers – the equal of short-range ballistic missiles – which may hit anyplace in South Korea. Those adopted a file yr of missile testing in 2022, when Pyongyang examined missiles on 37 days, in line with Act Daily News’s rely, all in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
After the rocket launches on Monday, Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s sister, warned of extra missile exams to come back until the United States halts navy drills with South Korea, threatening to make the Pacific Ocean “our shooting range.”
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But Park advised such belligerence would solely strengthen South Korea’s alliance with the US.
“US extended deterrence” is “the only way that we can effectively protect our country from the North Korean aggression,” Park mentioned, including that enhancing that deterrence would contain “effective deployment of US strategic assets” in addition to workouts and coaching.
On the identical day as Park was talking, guided-missile destroyers from each nations had been joined by one other from Japan in a ballistic missile protection train within the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
Park supplied little hope for any early easing of tensions with North Korea, saying there are not any energetic negotiations and that Kim wouldn’t hand over his nuclear weapons voluntarily.
The North Korean chief have to be made to see that talks are his solely possibility, Park mentioned.
“We have to create an environment where North Korea has no choice but to come back to the negotiation table,” he mentioned.
Experience had proven that Kim wouldn’t negotiate when he sensed weak point in his opponents, Park mentioned, citing failed negotiations that occurred in the course of the administration of former US President Donald Trump.
“The lesson we learned is that when we are strong … North Korea comes to the dialogue table. When we are weak, they try to take advantage of that vulnerability. So we have to prepare ourselves through our defense and also through deterrence to talk with the North,” he mentioned.
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Park additionally mentioned South Korea’s safety challenges lengthen past the Korean Peninsula, together with a thousand miles to the south throughout the Taiwan Strait.
“Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is essential for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and it’s indispensable for security and prosperity of the region as a whole,” Park mentioned.
China’s ruling Communist Party has for months been pressuring the self-ruled island of Taiwan. It sees the island as a part of its territory, regardless of by no means having managed it, and Chinese chief Xi Jinping has repeatedly refused to rule out the usage of pressure in “reunifying” it with the Chinese mainland.
Park mentioned that would have a “direct impact” on South Korea.
“We are opposed to unilateral change of (the) status quo by force. So in that sense, we will make sure that if something happens in the Taiwan Strait, we have to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.” he mentioned.
Source: www.cnn.com