Jeong Dong-yeong: "North Korea is a Threat, Not the Main Enemy".. Wartime Operational Control Retrieval is Natural

[Financial News] Jeong Dong-yeong, candidate for Minister of Unification, assessed that North Korea is not the main enemy but a threat. He also stated that it is right to retrieve wartime operational control. Candidate Jeong answered "I do not agree" to the question from Kim Ki-hyeon, a member of the People Power Party, asking if he thinks North Korea is the main enemy, during the ministerial confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on the 14th. However, Candidate Jeong stated, "North Korea is a threat."
Additionally, Candidate Jeong answered "Violation of the Armistice Agreement" to Kim's question about whether it is illegal to send drones to monitor North Korea's movements. Candidate Jeong also criticized, "The intention to use it as a means of martial law is an atrocity." Candidate Jeong responded to the question of whether it is impossible to monitor North Korea's movements in the future by saying, "There are other methods such as satellites, high-altitude reconnaissance satellites, and HUMINT."
When Kim countered, "Do you think peace can be achieved only through declarations and dialogue?", Candidate Jeong replied, "Dialogue and wise diplomacy are necessary." Kim retorted, "North Korea's nuclear weapons are confirmed. Do you think permanent peace can be achieved only through dialogue and diplomacy without balancing power at a time when North Korea has a nuclear monopoly?"
Candidate Jeong countered, "Four out of North Korea's six nuclear tests were conducted during the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations. The advancement of nuclear capabilities was achieved during the Lee Myung-bak, Park Geun-hye, and Yoon Seok-yeol administrations. Reflection on that should come first."
He continued, "There was no nuclear threat from the North during the Democratic Party government. The worst achievement of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration is that it allowed the North to make statements about using tactical nuclear weapons. It was the Yoon Seok-yeol administration that kept provoking them to shoot."
Kim said, "Regarding wartime operational control, President Lee Jae-myung, as a presidential candidate, said it should be retrieved as quickly as possible. National Security Office Director Wi Seong-rak recently mentioned during a visit to the U.S. that comprehensive negotiations, including wartime operational control, are underway," asking Candidate Jeong's opinion.
Candidate Jeong responded, "Retrieving wartime operational control is a natural thing for an independent sovereign state. The goal was 2012 during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, but it was delayed to 2015 during the Lee Myung-bak administration, and conditions were attached during the Park Geun-hye administration."


rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-soo Reporter