بازدید 2207
South Korea's Moon pledges there will be 'no war on Korean peninsula'
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said US and South Korean policies are aligned on North Korea and promised there "will be no war on the Korean peninsula ever again."
South
Korean President Moon Jae-in has said US and South Korean policies are
aligned on North Korea and promised there "will be no war on the Korean
peninsula ever again."
Moon, who took office in May, held a news conference Thursday to mark the first 100 days of his presidency.
During
the nationally broadcast event, he said US President Donald Trump had
assured South Korea he would consult with them before making any
military decisions on North Korea.
"Against
North Korea, even with extreme pressure, it has to be solved peacefully
and our opinion and US opinion about this matter is not different,"
Moon said.
The South Korean leader
also said North Korea's development of nuclear weapons technology was
"nearing" a red line, which he described as "completing an ICBM and
weaponizing it with a nuclear head."
North
Korea claims it has successfully miniaturized a nuclear weapon. While
some experts believe it may have the technology, others caution that
even if it doesn't, North Korea should be taken at its word.
"If
North Korea provokes again, it will face with much harsher sanction and
won't stand it in the end. I want to warn North Korea to do no more
dangerous gambling," added Moon.
Moon's
comments about averting war echoed similar statements he made Tuesday
that only South Korea could give consent to initiate any conflict with
the North.
"The government, putting everything on the line, will block war by all means," Moon said.
His
comments followed Mattis' threat that it would be "game on" if North
Korea carried out its threat to fire missiles toward the US island
territory of Guam.
Pyongyang said
Monday it had finalized a plan to fire four missiles less than 25 miles
off Guam but state media said leader Kim Jong Un would wait to assess
the US' next move before giving launch orders.
The
US and South Korea are due to start military games on Monday, August
21, which is considered the next potential flashpoint in the dispute.
Moon
has repeatedly stressed that he is open to dialogue with North Korea,
if conditions are met and North Korea temporarily halts its nuclear
program.
He was a supporter of the
"Sunshine Policy," an attempt to improve relations between the two
Koreas from 1998 to 2008, and was chief of staff to former South Korean
President Roh Moo-hyun.
Speaking at his swearing-in ceremony in May, Moon promised to "resolve the security crisis as soon as possible."
"If it is necessary, I will fly immediately to Washington and also visit Beijing and Tokyo," he said.
"Under
the right conditions, I will also go to Pyongyang. For peace on the
Korean Peninsula, I will do everything that I can do."
Soon after coming to office he delayed the deployment of the US-developed THAAD anti-missile system.
Moon's
policy on Pyongyang came in for criticism from his rivals, particularly
Hong of the Liberty Korea Party and Ahn of the People's Party, who both
touted tougher lines on North Korea.
