Rival parties disagree over Yoon's trip to U.S.

Politics

Published: 27 Apr. 2023, 18:55

Rival parties disagree over Yoon's trip to U.S.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung criticizing President Yoon Seok Yul and the Washington Declaration at the Natioanl Assembly in Yeouido on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Unsurprisingly, Korea’s two biggest political parties had completely different takes on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to Washington so far.

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) claimed that the Washington Declaration, the agreement to strengthen extended deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, was destabilizing the region.

“It is difficult to predict what kind of impact the dangerous act of provoking countries like China and Russia will have on our national interest and diplomatic security,” DP leader Lee Jae-myung said Thursday.

He accused President Yoon of assuming the role of puppet in the midst of a confrontation between superpowers.

“In continuance to the humiliation of giving everything to Japan [with nothing in return], the latest summit between Korea and U.S., the government has failed to protect the national interest,” Lee claimed. He said the Yoon government “has only helped to relocate our plants to the U.S. while failing to protect our own companies and industries.”

He said the Yoon government will be unable to avoid criticism that it has voluntarily folded to the U.S.

“I urge an overall revision to the diplomatic and national security policy,” Lee added. “Do not push the country’s fate to a cliff.”

Park Hong-keun, the DP floor leader, claimed that the Washington Declaration is a fraud.

“The government claims that U.S. promises regarding North Korean nuclear weapons are clearly stated in the declaration, and that the U.S. has agreed to increase the reliability of extended deterrence by forming a consultation group that would be in charge of strategy and planning related to nuclear weapons,” Park said. “However, national security experts say that, basically, the declaration represents no advancement from the 2021 Korea-U.S. summit” between Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden, Park added. “I would like to ask how it greatly differs from the existing U.S. nuclear umbrella policy?”

The Justice Party also accused President Yoon and the Washington Declaration of destabilizing the region.

“It has failed to provide a turning point to change the unstable situation on the Korean Peninsula,” said the party’s leader Lee Jeong-mi. “President Yoon has only nodded to whatever the U.S. said,” Lee added.

“The U.S. have made unfair demands where it asked Samsung or SK hynix not to fill in if China bans U.S. company,” Lee said. “What have Yoon received including any practical measures when we’re under a huge burden of America first such as the CHIPS Act and the IRA?”

“The people had to feel humiliation at a president who has thrown away the dignity of a sovereign country.”

“The U.S. has made unfair demands, asking Samsung or SK hynix not to fill in if China bans a U.S. company,” Lee said. “What has Yoon received, including any practical measures when we’re under such a huge burden from 'America first-ism' such as the CHIPS Act and IRA?”

“The people had to feel the humiliation at a president who has thrown away the dignity of a sovereign country.”

DP Rep. Jang Kyung-tae making a statement at the party's meeting on Wednedsay at the National Assembly. [YONHAP]

A DP lawmaker also accused President Yoon of sexual harassment.

“In the U.S. it is considered an act of sexual harassment to kiss a child on the lips or other parts of the body without the consent of the child,” said DP Rep. Jang Kyung-tae on Wednesday during the party’s leadership meeting.

Jang was citing the picture of President Yoon giving a girl who was presenting him with welcoming flowers a kiss on the cheek at Andrews Air Base in Maryland on the first day of his trip to the U.S.

“Such an act is considered a serious crime, which can be verified in various state laws,” Jang said.

An image posted on DP Rep. Jang Kyung-tae accusing President Yoon Suk Yeol of sexually harrassing a child on his arriaval at Andrews Air Base on the first day of his visit in the U.S. as state guest. The image also has a link to an article ruling that even a kiss on a hand of a child is indecent assault. [FACEBOOK CAPTURE]

This is not the first time Jang has criticized the presidential couple.

The DP legislator accused the first lady of “poverty porn” when she posed for a picture with a Cambodian teenager suffering from a congenital heart disease during their visit to Phnom Penh.

The teenager received heart surgery in Seoul earlier this year.

The conservative People Power Party (PPP), on the other hand, praised the president’s achievement.

“This is the first time that a U.S. president has declared a specific plan for executing nuclear deterrence for a single ally,” Kim Gi-hyeon, PPP leader.

“There have also been economic achievements, including a $5.9 billion investment agreement that was made just two days into the visit to the U.S.,” Kim added. “The alliance that started with the forging of blood is now moving beyond national security and manufacturing-centered cooperation to a globally comprehensive strategic alliance that expands to high technology, culture as well as collecting, sharing and analyzing information.”

“The Korea-U.S. alliance, which is considered the most successful alliance, has made a quantum leap.”

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]