[국정농담] Construction of nuclear power plants in vaccines, how far is the controversy over North Korea support?

Lee In-young followed by Jeong Segyun, “If the vaccine remains, North Korea can give it to you”

Controversy date “principal mention”…Ministry of Unification “need joint response”

Seo-wook “Korea-US training, consultation with North Korea possible”…US, opposition disagreement

‘Noisy’ found in North Korean nuclear power plant promotion file in the Ministry of Industry deleted file

Jong-in Kim “Shock Transfer Act”, “Legal Response to the Duke of North Poong”

North American exploration war highlights public opinion variables in pursuit of’inter-Korean time’

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Controversy over the Korean government’s plan for aid to North Korea is spreading to the construction of a nuclear power plant after providing a vaccine for a novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), and through discussions for military training in the ROK-US combined military. In the case of the Corona 19 vaccine, the Minister of Unification Lee In-young and then Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun came to the fore, suggesting the possibility that it could be provided to North Korea in the future. This is because the idea, which was regarded as the opinion of the Minister Lee’s personal opinion, was strengthened by the remarks of Prime Minister Chung, a higher rank. Defense Minister Seo-wook’s remarks that it is possible to consult with North Korea on whether or not the ROK-US combined military exercises can be discussed, as well as disagreements between the US and the ROK over the timing of the transition to wartime combat control have also emerged as controversial issues. In addition, the list of deleted data by officials of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, who were charged with interfering with the inspection of the nuclear power plant of Wolseong Unit 1, was fueled by the controversy over aid to North Korea. The confusion among the people living in the era of post-nuclear power increased as the names of documents presumed to contain plans to build nuclear power plants in North Korea appeared in many public complaints. There is, of course, no policy in which the government has clearly expressed its intention to push forward in the face of international sanctions against North Korea. However, with dissatisfaction with the appeasing attitude that the Korean government has consistently taken with the North Korean Kim Jong-un regime, the criticism public opinion has rapidly increased. Ahead of the full-fledged movement of the US Biden government, the by-election in April, and the presidential election next year, attention is focused on whether the trend of domestic public opinion will become a new variable in the setting of our North Korean policy.

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Prime Minister 丁“If the vaccine remains, it may be given to North Korea”… Open up the possibility

Prime Minister Chung said at a policy discussion for foreign journalists held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 27th, “Can it be provided to North Korea, a country that is difficult to immunize after the entire national vaccination has been formed?” “There is no need to close the possibility of providing to North Korea or other difficult countries.” It was the second time after Minister Lee In-young that a key member of the government officially raised the possibility of providing a vaccine to North Korea. In addition, it was evaluated that the weight of the remarks was different in that Prime Minister Chung was in charge of state affairs. Previously, since last November, Minister Lee has repeatedly announced his intention to provide a vaccine and treatment for Corona 19 to North Korea on the premise that “if more vaccines are developed and distributed”.

Prime Minister Chung diagnosed, “If a contract for an additional 20 million people is signed in addition to the 56 million people (pre-existing), if all of these vaccines are used without problems, there may be an excess of supplies.” He added, “It is considered as a 70% national vaccination until September, so it is not easy to predict the situation in advance when the situation changes rapidly like these days,” he said. “I will open the possibility and worry.”

Prime Minister Chung also said that there was no doubt about North Korea’s report to the World Health Organization (WHO) that there were no corona19 confirmed cases, saying, “I know that the blockade has been thoroughly enforced throughout the past year.” This was contrary to the position that Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha had revealed so far. Minister Kang said in a dialogue in Manama held in Bahrain on the 5th of last month that “North Korea still claims that there are no corona19 confirmed, but it is difficult to believe.” “All signals show that the North Korean regime is focusing on controlling the corona. This is a strange situation.” On the 9th of the same month, North Korea’s Labor Vice President Kim Yeo-jeong gave a speech and criticized it, saying, “It is a criticism beyond the subject,” saying, “We will remember it forever and probably have to be accurately calculated.”

Prime Minister Chung said, “It is still valid,” even though Kim Jong-un’s promise to return to North Korea’s State Council Chairman, and “it is good if it can be done within the current government.”

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Date of controversy, “principal mention”… Ministry of Unification “A joint response between North and South is essential”

When Prime Minister Chung and Minister Lee discussed the possibility of supporting the Corona 19 vaccine against North Korea, it was interpreted as a message that they would somehow find out the tide of the current inter-Korean relations, which are in a stalemate. However, voices of criticism have been raised in various places, both online and offline, as even Koreans have not started vaccination yet. It was pointed out that it is not too late to worry after the Korean people have formed collective immunity and North Korea has changed its attitude prospectively. Many reactions were concerned that the tax-bought vaccine would be handed over to North Korea without any public consensus procedure.

The Prime Minister’s office said, “It was a humanitarian reference to help countries in need of COVID-19. It has not yet been reviewed within the government.” An official from the Ministry of Unification said on the 28th, “It is a position that joint response between the two Koreas is essential to ensure the life and safety of North Korea as well as the Korean people for infectious diseases such as Corona 19. I did not do it,” he responded. He said, “We have not reviewed or discussed in detail yet,” but he did not say that he would not proceed.

Currently, North Korea is showing a lukewarm reaction to the South Korean government’s proposal for vaccine cooperation. According to the Chosun Central News Agency on the 9th, Kim Jong-un ignored the quarantine cooperation, humanitarian cooperation, and individual tourism proposed by the Korean government as “non-essential problems” in the report on the general project of the party conference held on the 5th to 7th of this month. He made it clear his intention to independently proceed with the development of Mt. Geumgang.

What North Korea referred to as an’essential problem’ was the suspension of combined military exercises between the ROK and the United States. Kim Jong-un said, “The South Korean authorities are struggling against the implementation of the North-South Agreement on ensuring peace and military stability on the Korean peninsula, continuing to ignore our repeated warnings that the import of advanced military equipment and the cessation of joint military exercises with the United States.” “It is possible to return to the spring day three years ago, depending on the attitude of the South Korean authorities,” he pressured.

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Seowook “Korea-US training, consultation with North Korea possible”… The U.S. opposes the early transition of OPCON

In this situation, Defense Minister Seo-wook reaffirmed President Moon Jae-in’s intention to consult with North Korea for joint military exercises. Minister Seo said at a New Year press conference held at the Defense Ministry in Seoul’s Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 27th, “We are closely coordinating the implementation method with the ROK-US Combined Command with the thought of conducting training in early March.” “Considering the Corona 19 situation ( Training) space can be divided into several cells (areas) or group formation, and the best of operation can be demonstrated.” He added, “We have adjusted and implemented a lot of practice in the second half of last year (considering Corona 19),” suggesting that training in the first half of this year can be reduced as in the second half of last year.

Most of all, after mentioning President Moon’s New Year’s press conference that “we can discuss with North Korea through the Inter-Korean Military Joint Committee”, “(President Moon is able to discuss with North Korea) in principle, I also said. “I think we can discuss,” he stressed, “I am not seeing North Korea’s notice.”

At the same time, Minister Seo reaffirmed the policy of early transition to wartime military control, which is closely related to combined training. He said, “I think there must be progress made for the transition to OPCON during my tenure. We think that we will be able to do the second stage verification and evaluation (FOC) of the Future Combined Command led by the ROK military in the near future. ”Explained.

However, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense drew a line on the 28th (local time) with regard to Secretary Seo’s remarks, “Operation rights will be converted when the mutually agreed conditions are fully met.” The U.S. Department of Defense in particular expressed its opposition to our position, saying, “A promise at a certain point in time will put our troops and personnel at risk.” In addition, he said, “We are well aware of the value of military training and practice,” and expressed a position that seemed to re-emphasize the necessity of normal training.

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Is there a nuclear power plant in North Korea? The Ministry of Industry’s deleted files are also controversial

The controversy over the controversy over the Korean government’s strategy toward North Korea did not end with this. The case of obstructing the audit of the Ministry of Industry related to the nuclear power plant of Wolseong Unit 1, which was thought to be related only to the policy of post-nuclear power, unexpectedly emerged as another detonator of North Korea policy.

According to a complaint against public officials from the Ministry of Industry, which was released by SBS on the 28th, the list of 530 data related to nuclear power plants suspected of being secretly deleted included a number of documents discussed and reported by the Blue House. On May 23, 2018, the Ministry of Industry created a file stating’BH (Cheongwadae)’ in the title, and the prosecution who restored the file said to the public complaint, “On June 15th, the board of directors of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. It is said that it contains the content that it will be decided.” There was no final plan for economic evaluation of Wolseong Unit 1, and before the KHNP Board of Directors was held. It is reported that among the deleted files, there was also a document containing’the trend of civic groups against nuclear power plants’.

In particular, there were a number of files that were estimated to have promoted measures to support nuclear power plants in North Korea, including documents related to’North Korean nuclear power plant construction and inter-Korean energy cooperation’. They were under the parent folder ’60 pohjois’, which means’north’ in Finnish.

60 Under the pohjois folder, there was a folder called’North Cone,’ which seems to be an abbreviation of’North Korean nuclear power plant construction promotion plan’. It contained files such as’Promotion Plan for Nuclear Power Plant Construction in North Korea,”Status of North Korean Electric Power Industry and German Integration Case’, and’Step-by-Step Cooperation Task for Building North Korean Electric Power Infrastructure’. These files were found to have been written in May 2018, between the first inter-Korean summit and the second inter-Korean summit in 2018.

With this in mind, suspicion that the South Korean government prepared to support the construction of nuclear power plants in North Korea with the hope of lifting sanctions against North Korea in the future arose. It was also pointed out that it was contradictory to the domestic post-nuclear policy. On the 29th, Kim Jong-in, chairman of the People’s Power Emergency Countermeasure Committee, argued that “The Moon Jae-in administration closed the Korean nuclear power plant and tried to build a nuclear power plant in North Korea in top secret. It was a shocking transfer that could shake the fate of the regime.”

Blue House spokesman Kang Min-seok said to Chairman Kim Jong-in on the same day, “This is an irresponsible remark that is no different from the Duke of North Poong and cannot be overlooked. The government will respond strongly, including legal action.” The Ministry of Industry also showed that it has never ordered or asked to report on the North Korean nuclear power plant. An official from the Ministry of Unification emphasized, “Since 2018, there have been no cases of nuclear power plant construction in North Korea as an inter-Korean cooperation project.” Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Gun-young, who was then head of the Blue House’s National Planning and Situation Office, also refuted on Facebook, saying, “Neither of the three inter-Korean summits nor exchange and cooperation projects promoted the construction of a nuclear power plant in North Korea.”

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Possibility of pursuing’inter-Korean time’… Domestic public opinion emerges as a variable

Many experts do not rule out the possibility that the Korean government will pursue its own’inter-Korean time’ for the time being, considering that President Moon’s term of office is less than a year left and it is uncertain whether the US Biden administration will accept the peace process on the Korean Peninsula. This is because North Korea and the United States, which are parties to the US-North Korea dialogue, have a high likelihood of continuing a fierce search battle for a while to establish a negotiating board.

In fact, in a video interview hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) and Arirang TV on the 27th, Joseph Yoon, former US State Department special representative for North Korea policy, said, “The United States believes that there should be a’giving and receiving’ such as the peace declaration that the Korean government has been talking about. It can be difficult to accept from the standpoint.” “The United States will respond only when North Korea prepares to take the initial stages of freezing its nuclear and missile programs,” he said. “The Biden administration’s adherence to the concept of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID) is not likely to succeed in the first place. It is a non-starter.” Republican Congressman Chris Smith, who was co-chair of the “Tom Lantos Human Rights Committee,” a bipartisan organization under the US Congress, said on the 28th (local time) the issue of the Korean government’s anti-North Korean warfare law, “At the end of February or early March, We will be able to reveal the details of the hearing,” he told Free Asia Broadcasting (RFA).

There has also been a roundabout signal that the system of loyalty to North Korea’s Kim Jong-un is still less robust. According to an information source on the 25th, North Korea’s former ambassador to Kuwait Ryu Hyun-woo (Korean name) entered Korea with his family in September 2019. He is known as the person who served as ambassador when the North Korean Ambassador to Kuwait was deported at the time of Seo Chang-sik after the adoption of the UN Security Council’s resolution on sanctions against North Korea in September 2017. Former Ambassador Ryu is said to be the son-in-law of Jeon Il-chun, the former head of the Labor Party’s Room 39, which raises money for Kim Jong-un’s governance.

However, some of the political relations argue that it will be difficult for the government and the passport to completely ignore domestic public opinion and pursue only’inter-Korean time’ when considering the schedule of the by-election and presidential power. Even if there is a favorable response from the Kim Jong-un regime, public opinion is divided, and an attempt to support North Korea without a response from the North can only live unnecessary antipathy.

※’National Jokes (國政濃談)’ is a corner that conveys the news of current issues and stories on the’concentration’ related to administration, diplomacy, security, and politics.

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/ Reporter Yoon Kyung-hwan [email protected]

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