The U.S. government put the brakes on the “end of war declaration” that the Moon Jae-in administration is pushing for at the end of his term, saying “there may be different viewpoints.” Despite the warnings from the international community, North Korea expressed prudence in the government’s push for an end-of-war declaration in a situation where it was sprinting with its nuclear armament.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at a briefing on the 26th (local time) about the end of the war declaration, “The recent discussions between the chief nuclear representatives of the Republic of Korea and the United States have been very productive and constructive.” , conditions, etc. may have slightly different views,” he said. Although it is necessary to bring North Korea to the table of dialogue to resume negotiations between the United States and North Korea, he emphasized that the ROK-U.S. position may differ on concrete measures such as a declaration of an end to the war. In particular, when Sullivan mentioned the ‘exact sequence for each action’, it also means that he did not accept South Korea’s claim that the end-of-war declaration was the ‘entrance’ to the denuclearization negotiations. For the US, it is clear that the declaration of an end to the war should be a reward for the denuclearization stage after the start of negotiations.
After President Moon Jae-in proposed an end-of-war declaration at the UN General Assembly last month, the South Korean government has been working hard to achieve results toward the end of his term in office. Blue House Security Office Chief Suh Hoon and Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong visited the US one after another to engage in an all-round persuasion battle. However, President Sung Kim put more weight on North Korea’s launch of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and condemning its nuclear activities rather than the declaration of an end to the war. Despite this situation, the government is still obsessed with easing sanctions against North Korea and declaring an end to the war, saying that it is a “threat, not a provocation” while only looking at North Korea. This raises suspicions that “the government is only concerned with the event where the leaders of the two Koreas meet at the Beijing Winter Olympics ahead of next year’s presidential election.”
The declaration of an end to the war is not something the government, which has reached the end of its term of office, hastened. An end-of-war declaration is possible only when we have a deterrent against North Korean nuclear and missile threats in line with North Korea’s denuclearization measures. There can be no declaration of an end to the war without North Korea’s denuclearization.
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
