Pres. Moon praises his summit with Biden as the best one ever

South Korean President Moon Jae-in sees the South Korea-U.S. summit as one of the most successful summits ever.

Moon mentioned on social media on Saturday (local time) after his meetup with U.S. President Joe Biden, "The meeting produced the best ever outcomes. It was a better-than-expected achievement,” adding that it was the best visit with the perfect discussion part of it. The South Korean president gave a meaning to a partnership with Washington for vaccines and direct support of vaccines for South Korean military troops, saying that he was told that despite public opposition within the United States, the U.S. government put a high value on the alliance with South Korea. 　

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea has issued welcome messages in series. "My heart is full,” Ruling party leader Song Young-gil said on Facebook on Saturday. “The summit talk brought about greater outcomes than hoped across the whole agenda items including vaccine supply, economic cooperation and bilateral partnership.” Lee Nak-yeon, the former chairman of the ruling party, assessed the removal of the missile guidelines as the best ever achievement made in the history of South Korea. 　

By contrast, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) criticized that further details should have been confirmed on denuclearization strategies and vaccine supply roadmaps. Although it saw the establishment of partnership for vaccines and the supply of vaccines for the South Korean military as significant achievements, the party pointed out that it is too early to be content in self-satisfaction and narcissism in such a critical moment. Yoo Seung-min, a former lawmaker and PPP member who is regarded as a prospective presidential runner, gave critical comments on lack of details during the summit talk, explaining that it is disappointing that there is no clear strategy for the denuclearization of North Korea nor any specific pledge on vaccines.

The progressive minor Justice Party commented that despite a high hope of vaccines, the summit talk ended up with no positively sensational results. "Regrettably, Washington's comprehensive vaccine partnership did not provide specific targets to Seoul while South Korean businesses will invest 44 trillion won in the United States,” it pointed out.


Sung-Hwi Kang yolo@donga.com · Sung-Yeol Yoo ryu@donga.com