Chung Dong-young: “Peace without having to fight” ... Kang Shin-chul: “Must win without fighting”

[Financial News] Chung Dong-young, Minister of Unification, and Kang Shin-chul, Minister of National Defense, agreed that they should seek a solution without fighting despite the North Korean land-mine explosion. The two ministers stated this position during the parliamentary audits of the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of National Defense held on the 7th. Both ministers thus shared the view that the confrontation between the two Koreas following the North Korean land-mine explosion must not be allowed to escalate into a military conflict.
Minister Chung said at the parliamentary audit held that day at the Inter-Korean Talks Headquarters, “Peace without the need to fight and peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula are more urgent than ever.”
Minister Chung said, “Inter-Korean dialogue has been at a standstill for more than seven years, North Korea’s nuclear capabilities are growing more sophisticated by the day, and conflicts continue around the world, leaving the international situation in turmoil,” stressing the importance of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula without the need to fight.
For the first time ever, this year’s parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Unification was held at the Inter-Korean Talks Headquarters to emphasize peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula. Minister Chung said, “Since it was launched in 1971 as the Secretariat for the Inter-Korean Red Cross Talks, today is the first time a parliamentary audit has been held at the Ministry of Unification’s Inter-Korean Talks Headquarters.”
Minister Chung also said, “There was a regrettable incident in which our service members were injured by land mines planted by North Korea in the Demilitarized Zone,” and expressed his wishes for their speedy recovery and offered words of comfort. He also said, “We must prepare thoroughly to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.”
To that end, he stressed the need to end the Korean Peninsula’s armistice system, as President Lee Jae-myung had mentioned in his address to the UN General Assembly.
Minister Chung said, “We must transform the unstable situation under the armistice system, where military tensions persist and hostility and confrontation recur, into lasting and stable peace.”
Kang Shin-chul, Minister of National Defense, also said at the parliamentary audit held at the Ministry of National Defense, “They say that winning without fighting is the best strategy,” adding, “That victory comes from overwhelming strength that the enemy would not dare challenge.” Minister Kang said, “The foundation of national defense is maintaining a firm state of readiness capable of protecting the country and its people under any circumstances, and, further, competing and winning in every domain.”
Minister Kang said, “Our military will further strengthen its capabilities for self-reliant national defense through the transfer of wartime operational control, and build on that strength to further solidify the ROK-U.S. alliance,” adding, “We will be reborn as a ‘warrior community’ that is most feared by our enemies and most trusted by our people.”

[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo Reporter