[Editorial] Kim Dae-jung Lashes Out

Former President Kim Dae-jung (DJ) strongly criticized neo-conservatives in the U.S. and conservative figures in Japan in an interview with a current affairs magazine yesterday. He said, “North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles are just kids’ toys next to the U.S.’s, but neo-cons are overplaying them to beef up its military system like missile defense.” “Abe, the chief cabinet secretary of Japan also sent his popularity soaring by criticizing North Korea,” added DJ. “Japan is overly taking advantage of North Korea, which clearly crossed the line”

It is not clear why DJ, after all the years of silence he has kept on North Korea, opened a salvo of attacks on the U.S. and Japan. But, whatever the reason may be, his move seems regrettably inappropriate given his logic and current circumstances. Now his remark is amplifying confusion and division by publicly defending the argument of pro-North leftists that all the blame is to go to the U.S.

The crux of the current crisis lies in the North’s pathological obsession with nukes and missiles. It’s almost 20 years since the South has been dragged around as a hostage taken by the North. As DJ pointed out, if the U.S., albeit these circumstances, are trying to exploit the North issue all along, it’s just like that the U.S. and Japan have been looking the other way while abetting the North in developing its nukes and missiles. But such insistence is echoing the conspiracy theory constantly suggested by pro-North leftists since the breakout of the first nuclear crisis in 1993.

DJ goes on to say that the North’s counterfeiting dollars is also sort of conspiracy. According to DJ, the U.S. brought it up in an attempt to fail the six-party talks. His opinion that the Korean war also broke out because of the U.S. is just what the leftist revisionists are preaching. All things considered, DJ is largely to blame for the current stalemate. The reason is that it is DJ who has showered the North with all the aid with his sunshine policy while giving the North a cover, buying it time enough to focus on developing its nuclear program behind the scenes.

However, DJ said, “President Roh should build upon the foundation that I have laid within his term so that no following President can reverse the course in the South-North relations,” which is hard to accept. DJ might believe that his sunshine policy toward the North is a golden rule to be referred to in solving the North crisis. But in doing so, he’s unwittingly contributing to today’s confusion and crisis. And this is an insult to Korean people.