hankyoreh

On Oct. 4, Blue House national security chief Kim Jang-soo made some noteworthy remarks before the House Steering Committee of the National Assembly.

Kim served as the Minister of Defense under former president Roh Moo-hyun at the time of the 2007 inter-Korean summit.

Just before the meeting of the South and North Korean defense ministers, a subsequent meeting after the summit between leaders, “Roh told me to follow my convictions in regard to the NLL issue,” Kim said. “So I followed my convictions, and I was able to keep the NLL.”

The NLL, or the Northern Limit Line, is a maritime boundary in the West (Yellow) Sea separating North and South Korea. It has never been formally recognized by North Korea.

Kim, who knows the truth of the inter-Korean summit meeting and the NLL issue better than anyone, broke his long silence to offer this important testimony.

Kim also said that he had “some significant differences of opinion with the Blue House secretaries and the Ministry of Unification,” but this is far removed from the essence of the issue.

The conflict that arose between Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong and Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo is already well known.

The most important issue is what Roh’s attitude was in regard to the NLL, and Kim neatly wrapped this up.

In fact, allegations that Roh disavowed the NLL were already confirmed to be a lie by the summit transcript that was unlawfully published by the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

While there were some poorly phrased expressions, anyone with common sense would acknowledge that Roh put the focus on alleviating military tension through setting up a peace and cooperation zone in the West Sea.

Despite this, everyone seems to have forgotten the key point of the problem and continue to waste the country’s energy on an unnecessary obsession with trivial details.

The recent discovery that the transcript was not at the National Archives of Korea has dragged out the exhausting political struggle.

The Saenuri Party (NFP) even requested that the NIS release the audio file of the meeting that it has in its possession. The party is asking whether small changes might have cropped up during the transcription of Roh’s remarks such as adjusting the form of “I” from a deferential form to the form used between equals but it actually seems bent on making political capital from the issue.

When preparing the transcript after talks have been held between foreign leaders, it is customary to correct certain expressions that are not related to the overall context.

It is sad to see the Saenuri Party ignoring this convention and trying to obfuscate the main point by finding fault with non-essential issues.

Of course, it is necessary to find out just why the transcript of the inter-Korean summit was not entrusted to the National Archives as it ought to have been. It is also only natural to hold the guilty parties responsible.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the time has come to wrap up the debate about whether or not Roh disavowed the NLL.

The Saenuri Party and the conservative establishment have heard the testimony of Kim, who in fact is a key security official in the current government. Do they really intend to keep making spurious claims such as arguing that Roh had the transcript destroyed because he was afraid that his disavowal of the NLL would be found out?

We sincerely hope that these people will see the light of common sense and reason.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]