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North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho walks to his car upon arriving at the Beijing Capital Airport after being welcomed by North Korean Ambassador to China Ji Jae-ryong on Sept. 26. (Yonhap News)

On Sept. 25, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho defined US President Donald Trump’s remarks as a “declaration of war” and said that North Korea would exercise its “right to self-defense” by shooting down American strategic bombers even if they didn’t enter its airspace. Ri also made a threat about “preemptive action” in his speech before the UN General Assembly on Sept. 23, but the crisis was further ratcheted up by the fact that this time he specified the target and the method. The Pentagon fired back that President Trump would be provided with all options, including a show of force.

It’s possible to see Ri’s remarks as being just rhetoric. But if the US and North Korea continue their game of chicken – like two locomotives racing out of control toward each other – you can’t rule out the possibility of a clash that neither side planned or wanted. In 1969, when Richard Nixon was president, North Korea shot down an American spy plane in the waters southeast of Chongjin, killing its entire crew of 31 people. While the US did not execute a plan for retaliation, it’s impossible to know how the Trump administration would respond if a similar event occurred.

The problem is that there is no one to intervene in the tense battle of egos between North Korea and the US. In his address before the UN General Assembly, South Korean President Moon Jae-in clearly sent a message that “there must be no war on the Korean Peninsula.” But in his subsequent summit with Trump, Moon agreed to the deployment of American strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula and consented to a show of force with American B-1B strategic bombers that crossed the Northern Limit Line for the first time since the armistice was signed in 1953. Moon is talking about peace, but in his actions he’s accepting military tensions. It’s precisely at such a time that the South Korean government must take action to cool the crisis, but such action is nowhere to be seen. In order to eliminate the possibility of an unintended clash between the US and North Korea, South Korea must strongly call on both sides to refrain from their provocative language and action.

On Sept. 26, Moon attended a ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Oct. 4 inter-Korean summit statement between former President Roh and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The government hosted this event for the first time in 10 years, signaling the restoration of the Oct. 4 statement. But in his remarks on the occasion, Moon only emphasized securing a military deterrent and strengthening sanctions and didn’t do enough to revive the true meaning of the Oct. 4 statement, which is inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation.

“The Oct. 4 statement was not achieved suddenly. It was the product of strenuous effort over a long period of time by previous governments to move forward step by step in developing inter-Korean relations,” Moon said in his congratulatory address. The Moon administration is at a critical crossroads, and it needs to consider what steps it is taking right now.

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