Yoon denounces North-Russia pact as South marks Korean War anniversary

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Yoon denounces North-Russia pact as South marks Korean War anniversary

Published: 25 Jun. 2024, 18:41 Updated: 28 Jun. 2024, 09:48

SARAH KIM
kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, listens to a briefing aboard the American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), docked at a naval port in Busan on Tuesday.[PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday slammed North Korea's signing of a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with Russia as an "anachronistic" act that runs counter to historical progress.

"Our military will maintain steadfast readiness and respond overwhelmingly and decisively to any provocations from the North to ensure that it will not dare to challenge South Korea under any circumstances," Yoon said in an address at a ceremony in Daegu commemorating marking the 74th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Later Tuesday, Yoon boarded a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier visiting the Korean Peninsula ahead of trilateral drills between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo in a show of force against Pyongyang's threats.

During the Korean War anniversary ceremony, Yoon highlighted that North Korea's sending of trash balloons to the South in recent weeks and the latest treaty elevating Pyongyang-Moscow military cooperation were "anachronistic actions that run counter to the progress of history."

He said the pact signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, pledging to strengthen military and economic cooperation, was in "blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions."

This marks Yoon's first public remarks regarding the treaty signed on June 19, during Putin's state visit to Pyongyang, in which the North and Russia agreed to defend each other if either side is attacked. The presidential office indicated last week it could consider sending lethal weapons to Ukraine following this treaty.

Yoon in the address further referred to the North's launches of trash balloons across the border as a "despicable and irrational provocation."

"While we are racing on the path to freedom and prosperity, North Korea insists on a path of regression," Yoon said, criticizing the regime's isolationist tendencies and abysmal human rights record.

The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when North Korea, backed by the Soviet Union and China, attacked South Korea, which was supported by the United States and UN forces. The three-year war ended in an armistice agreement that halted hostilities on July 27, 1953.

"Based on the Korea-U.S. alliance, which has become stronger and stronger in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, we will further solidify our freedom and peace in solidarity with countries that share the value of freedom," Yoon said.

The ceremony was attended by 1,300 people, including first lady Kim Keon Hee, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik, bipartisan lawmakers, ministers, military brass, war veterans and their families and diplomats from countries including the United States.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, visits the American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), docked at a naval base in Busan on Tuesday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

During a visit to a naval base in Busan later that day, Yoon underscored that the U.S. aircraft carrier's visit symbolizes the extended deterrence outlined in the Washington Declaration adopted at his summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in April 2023.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt arrived at a Busan port on Saturday ahead of the first multi-domain Freedom Edge exercise which kicks off Thursday to coordinate trilateral response to the North's threats.

The carrier was joined by the Aegis-equipped destroyer USS Halsey and the USS Daniel Inouye.

Yoon became the third incumbent Korean president to board a U.S. aircraft carrier in 30 years, following in the steps of former President Park Chung Hee in 1974 and former President Kim Young-sam in 1994.

"North Korea is advancing its nuclear and missile capabilities and signaling the possibility of the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons, threatening peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the region," Yoon said. "The South Korea-U.S. alliance, the greatest in the world, is more ironclad than ever, and will defeat any enemy."

Yoon was greeted by some 300 Korean and American service personnel and toured the flight deck, inspected the F/A-18 fighter aircraft and listened to briefings.

"South Korea, the United States and Japan share the values of liberal democracy," Yoon said, stressing that cooperation among the three countries will "become another powerful means of deterrence."

The defense chiefs of the three countries agreed on the Freedom Edge exercise in talks held earlier this month on the margins of the Shangri-La Dialogue. The exercise builds on separate bilateral drills with the U.S. and its East Asian allies — Freedom Shield with Seoul and Keen Edge with Tokyo.

This marked the first arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier in Korea since the USS Carl Vinson's deployment in November. It is also the first port call in Busan by the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which took part in another trilateral naval exercise in April.

North Korea denounced the USS Theodore Roosevelt's deployment to Korea through its state media Monday.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]