South Korean Unification Minister Kim Young-ho spoke at a news conference with foreign reporters in Seoul on Thursday. Kim said he hopes the next U.S. administration will adopt the denuclearization of North Korea as a policy goal. Photo: Jeong Hong-gyun/EPA-EFE
SEOUL, Aug. 22 (UPI) — Recognizing North Korea as a nuclear power could set off a domino effect that would spark an arms race in Northeast Asia, Seoul's top official in charge of inter-Korean affairs warned Thursday, urging the United States to reaffirm its support for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Unification Minister Kim Yong-ho made the remarks during a press conference for foreign journalists discussing the upcoming US presidential elections.
Neither the Democratic nor Republican party platforms explicitly state denuclearization as a U.S. policy objective toward North Korea, a departure from the Democratic Party's 2020 platform and an omission that has raised concerns in South Korea.
Kim, whose ministry oversees inter-Korean relations, said he believed either new administration would look more closely at the North Korean nuclear issue when they take office.
“Whichever party participates, the initial step will be a review of North Korea policy. We sincerely hope that in the process, the complete denuclearization of North Korea will be mentioned as one of the priorities,” Kim said. “The South Korean government will also work closely to ensure that this idea is reflected in U.S. policy.”
North Korea and the United States held nuclear negotiations during a period of detente in 2018 and 2019, but those talks ended after a Hanoi summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then-U.S. President Donald Trump ended without an agreement.
Pyongyang has restarted its weapons program and passed a law officially declaring it a nuclear power with the right to launch a first strike in 2022, a decision Kim Jong Un called “irreversible.”
The minister on Thursday stressed the importance of strengthening deterrence against North Korean provocations and upholding the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty regime.
“The South Korean government's position is clear: we want the complete denuclearization of North Korea,” Kim said. “If we start recognising North Korea as a nuclear power, it will destabilise Northeast Asia. It will set off nuclear dominoes in the surrounding countries and the NPT regime will collapse.”
Kim's comments came a week after South Korean President Yun Seok-yol outlined a vision for unification with North Korea and proposed setting up a working group for dialogue.
Yoon's blueprint for unification also includes effecting change within North Korea through access to information from the outside.
Kim reiterated the importance of information reaching the North Korean people, citing a Foreign Ministry survey which found that 80 percent of defectors had watched foreign media, including South Korean dramas and movies, within the year before defecting.
“The North Korean people have a very strong spontaneous appetite for media content,” he said. “We will do everything in our power to ensure that the North Korean people have access to outside information.”
Two North Korean defectors made the dangerous crossing of the inter-Korean border this month, sparking speculation that South Korean loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts may have influenced their decision.
Seoul has been broadcasting in the DMZ since mid-July, broadcasting K-pop songs as well as Korean news and information across the border.
The move comes in response to North Korea sending thousands of balloons loaded with waste paper, clothing and fertiliser to South Korea since early June, including one that scattered trash at Yun's residence.
