New security guidelines promised

The Blue House said Friday it will release its new national security strategy guidelines next week, both in Korean and English, to set the tone for the country’s security readiness.

The release of the new guidelines comes as President Moon Jae-in said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a virtual end-of-war statement by signing a joint military agreement last month in Pyongyang in which the two sides agreed to stop confrontational activities along the border in all domains - air, land and sea - and agreed that they would never resort to violence “under any circumstances.”

“National security strategy guidelines are drawn up every five years and are the highest level of government strategy on national security. They offer basic reference points on policy areas ranging from diplomacy, unification, national defense, and emergency management,” said Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom during a press briefing Friday.

Reflecting on the rapid progress in inter-Korean relations, he said the new policy paper will mainly deal with “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, establishing a permanent peace and dramatic improvement in inter-Korean relations.”

He said the purpose of making public the policy paper was to win wider support from the Korean public and the international community for the direction of national security policy, especially on North Korea.

The last time the security paper was drawn up was in 2014 during the Park Geun-hye government. Considering it is usually re-drawn every five years, the fact that the government is releasing a new one four years after the last demonstrates the Moon government’s desire to re-set the tone, especially in dealings with the North.

About 20,000 copies will be released in Korean, followed by another edition in English.

BY KANG JIN-KYU [kang.jinkyu@joongang.co.kr]