N. Korea: Test Benefited S. Korea Too

Senior Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho-ung, the leader of the North Korean delegation, aroused a sensation by making an absurd remark at the 19th South-North Cabinet Level Talk on July 12 saying, “The Seon-gun Policy (the Military First policy of North Korea) defends the security of South Korea.”

At the closed general meeting held at the Nurimaru APEC House in Dongbaek Island, Busan, cabinet-leader Kwon asserted in his keynote speech, “Seon-gun Policy is fostering the security of the South, and the vast range of South Koreans are enjoying the benefits from the Seon-gun Policy.”

This remark by cabinet-leader Kwon can be interpreted as meaning that the series of military acts by North Korea that include the missile launch or developing nuclear weapons for the sake of the security of South Korea.

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North Korea has several times mentioned its Seon-gun Policy in the South-North talks held so far, but this is the first time it brought up such logic as that the Seon-gun Policy guards the security of the South.

Cabinet-leader Kwon also said in his public opening speech before the closed meeting, “100 years ago, our ancestors who did not own matchlock guns were forced into a contract ruinous to the nation and let the Japanese mangle our dynasty again,” suggesting that the matchlock gun equals the missile or the nuclear weapons.

At this, Minister of Unification Lee Jong-seok, the South Korean Chief Delegate, refuted on the spot, saying, “Did anyone in the South ask you to guard our security? Nobody in South Korea has agreed on the Seon-gun Policy in favor of our security, nor has anyone asked for any protection.”

“It can only be beneficial to the security of South Korea in the actual sense when the North neither shoots missiles nor develops nuclear weapons, and every distance covered by the missile launched by North Korea will match how much the gap between the South and the North is widened,” Minister Lee said. “We officially urge you not to make any such remarks in the future.”

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